Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

Ok, so Friday night we celebrated another birthday and took a girls night out to another movie. We went and saw Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and we give it two thumbs up. This was such a funny movie that I dare say it wasn't a "Chic Flick" at all. I am madly in love with Hottie Matthew so I thought it would be a movie just for "Chics" but there was enough humor to make it great for the hubbies too. At first I had a hard time focusing on the movie instead of his beauty but he turns into a jerk of a character and I noticed that when that happened, I lost interest in him. But when he starts being nice, his charm came back. I found that to be very interesting and true to life. When people are mean and nasty, we don't really want to be with them but once they are willing to change, so do our feelings.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past follows the story line of The Christmas Carol and the main character, Conner, is played by Matthew is a famous photographer for a popular magazine and is known for being a player with the ladies. He takes a break from his player lifestyle to go to his baby brother's wedding. It is there that he runs into Jenny (Jennifer Garner) the only girl who ever captured his heart.They have been friends since they were very young. Conners parents were killed when he was young and her and his brother were the ones that stuck with Conner. After Connor delivers a speech at the wedding rehearsal dinner , he's met in the bathroom by the ghost of his Uncle Wayne (Michael Dogulas), a player amongst the ladies as well who in fact led a poor example taught Conner everything he knows about picking up chicks. Uncle Wayne informs Connor that, over the course of the evening, he'll be visited by three ghosts who will lead him through his romantic past, present, and future.

Through Connors adventure he comes to see himself in a different light. As he is visited by these ghosts, you are taken through a musical memory lane and I found myself wanting to stand up and dance to the sound of 80's music. At some points it got a little ronchy but overall it was a great movie and we all left laughing. I strongly reccomend this movie if you need a little laugh.

Easy Chicken Dinner

Barbecue Chicken:

Take 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts and place in a 9 x 13 pan. Smother in Barbecue sauce. Cover pan with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Take chicken out and sprinkle your choice of Colby or mozzarella cheese on top. Replace foil and place chicken back in the oven just until cheese is melted! Super yummy and easy!

I love Chick fil A and I love free food! Unfortunatly we don't have one here in St. George but all Utah locations are offering a free sandwich today only from 2-8 pm. Just thought I would pass this on!

Mandees Monday Menu

Another week already? A couple of the nights are rollovers from last week.

Monday: Tortellini w/alfredo sauce/salad/garlic bread

Tuesday: BBQ with some friends (hamburgers, salads, desserts)

Wednesday: Stroganoff/brocolli

Thursday: Sloppy Joes/french fries/salad

Friday: Papa Murphys

Saturday: Poppy Seed Chicken/brocolli

Sunday: Pot Roast

Save $50.00 with Kraft

Starting today and with limited quanities, you can go to Kraft Foods and print off coupons totaling $50.00 in Kraft and associated brand products!! I'm excited to see what I can use with my double coupons that came in this weeks papers!

Happy Mothers Day

We would like to wish all of you mothers a happy Mothers Day! Put your feet up and take the day off.

Dear Lord, it's such a hectic day
With little time to stop and pray
For life's been anything but calm
Since You called on me to be a mom
Running errands, matching socks
Building dreams with building blocks
Cooking, cleaning, and finding shoes
And other stuff that children lose
Fitting lids on bottled bugs
Wiping tears and giving hugs
A stack of last weeks mail to read
So where's the quiet time I need?
Yet when I steal a minute, Lord
Just at the sink or ironing board
To ask the blessings of Your grace
I see then, in my small one's face
That you have blessed me
All the while
And I stop to kiss
That precious smile

-author unknown

A Fun Freebie For You

In honor of Mandee's Menu obsession and my grocery shopping obsession. I found this and had to pass it a long.
I found this little gem, via A Feathered Nest.

Craft Stick Flowers

I posted these back in March. But we have a lot of new followers that probably haven't seen these and this is what we are sending today for the teachers. I originally made them for the Relief Society birthday party. They were simple and turned out so cute.

Each flower uses eight sticks and I did it the same way you would cut a pie. I glued the sticks together with good old Elmers Glue. My 6 year old daughter was helping me so I opted to not use a glue gun. They held together just fine. The stems are made by gluing two green sticks together, then I just added the flowers. SO EASY and SO CUTE!!! I can hardly wait for the party to be over so I can use them in my house for spring decoration!!!

Teacher Appreciation Gift

This is one of my favorite weeks of the school year. Especially when you love your childs teacher. I love the younger grades, the kids are so excited to make things for their teachers. My older son just wants to buy his teacher things. My first grade daughter and I made this pencil holder for her teacher. I took an empty baking powder can and modgepodged cute paper on to it. Then I found a picture I had taken of the two of them together and put that on with some more modge podge. I let BayLee put what stickers she wanted on it. On the front we put "BayLee" and on the back we put "Mrs. Murphy Rocks". Way fun and turned out really cute.

Free KFC Meals & Free 8x10 from Walgreens

Want to try the new KFC Grilled chicken for free? This offer ends tonight, but click here, to be taken to a coupon for a free 2 pc Kentucky Grilled Chicken meal! I printed off 4 coupons! It's redeemable from 5/5/09 to 5/19/09. Not reedemable on Mothers Day!

Also....

I got an email from Walgreens, and they are offering Free 8x10 at Walgreens, today only!

Use code MOTHER at checkout. Choose pick up in store to avoid shipping charges.

*Coupon code MOTHER valid for one use per account only on May 6, 2009. Online orders must include 8x10 print at time of checkout to qualify. Code must be entered at time of checkout to apply discount. Multiple coupon codes may or may not be used based on cart contents. Does not apply toward collage prints, taxes or shipping charges. Order must be placed by logged-in customer by May 6, 2009 at 11:59 p.m. Central Time to qualify. Timing will be determined by Walgreens server clock. Offer valid online only. 8x10 print format not available at all locations.

Bean Dip

Bean Dip

3 15 -oz. cans refried beans
1 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese
1 lb. cheddar cheese, shredded
2 envelopes taco seasoning mix
1 pint sour cream
A few shakes of chili powder (optional)

Blend all ingredients together and spoon into a 9 x13 pan. Sprinkle a small amount of shredded cheese on top. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips.

This makes a ton! I made it for a family bbq tonight and it was gone! Completely gone. It was a huge success. I'll be making it agian. Another recipe from the Worldwide Ward Cookbook

Am I The Only One

Ok, I have a confession to make! I simply CANNOT get into the Twilight series. I finally finished book one in time to watch the movie.....and I really liked the movie but not as much as the book. They left out some of my favorite parts and added parts that weren't even in the book, which then confused me even more.

I have been trying and trying to read book two but I just can't get into it. First of all I am so not into sci fi type stuff. If it is far out I just can't do it. I just have a few things to say about Twilight and I know it will probably make diehard Twilight fans upset. I think Edward is bad for Bella. Hello! He will eat her if she isn't careful. He is cold, he is sneaky and he sneaks into her bedroom and watches her sleep!! HELLO red flags. :) I say this in all good fun but it is kinda creepy isn't it?

A lot of you are probably asking yourselves, "Well, Mandee. If you don't like it, why are you reading it for heavens sake. Put the book down and start a new book". Well, I can't do that. Haven't you noticed that every group of ladies will bring up the book at least one time during a girls night out? It is the talk at church groups, playgroups, PTO meetings, school functions (even my 6 year old is convinced she is Alice-thank heavens she isn't Bella :) ). If I don't read this series, I will have to sit like a muntint with nothing to say. I can't be the only person in the room that hasn't read this bizzare series. When I say I am only on book two eyes seriously bulge out of their shocked faces and they say "YOU ARE???YOU HAVEN"T READ THE WHOLE SERIES???" See my problem????

Thank heavens my friends still love me and still invite me to midnight movie primeires and book releases. I am always up for a girls night out as long as they will go with me to movies like Die Hard and Taken!

Any advice on Twilight? Do the books get more interesting?

Mandees Monday Menu

This week I am being a little more lazy. I need easy meals this week, since the end of school is coming up. Thanks again to lovely bloggers that have great recipes. Hopefully next week I will be able to pull my menu from the Worldwide Ward Cookbook! (my mothers day dream. :)

Tuesday: Enchilada Casserole (from HayLees food-have I mentioned I love her blog)/Chipotle
Tomato Rice (Good Eats n sweets)

Wednesday: Lemon Herb Chicken (HayLees Food-my family would starve without her blog!),
Roasted Potatoes/Vegetable

Thursday: Brown Sugar Meatloaf (Jadis favorite Recipes-another blog I LOVE)

Friday: Cheese & Roasted Garlic Tortellini with Alfredo sauce/steamed brocolli/garlic bread

Saturday: Pork Chops/Baked Potato/Spinach salad

Sunday: Pot Roast and Veggies

Free Shipping at Oriental Trader

Free shipping on any purchase over $20.00. Use the code SUMMERFUN at checkout!! Stock up now for fun summertime crafts! Valid until 5/18/09.

Teacher Appreciation Week

I'm sure that we all have teachers whom we remember. I have several who shaped and influenced my life in way's I don't think they even knew. Mr. Bagley was one of my favorite teachers! He inspired a love of good books and writing. He was also very patient and unjudgemental. He realized that we were just teenagers and that we needed a chance to learn from our mistakes and to grow up. I also loved Mrs. Seegmiller. She lived in my small town and influenced me not only as a teacher but as a person of influence in my community. She started a youth council in my hometown and encouraged us to have pride and to participate in our community.

Teacher Apprecation Week is a week which is dedicated to all of our teachers around the world. It is a time to say thank you to our teachers for all of their help and show our gratitude for all the time and effort that they have put in our education.Make sure to say thank you to those who educate and care for your children. They help us as parents to shape the lives of our children. Their influence can last a life time!

With that said, what do you give that special teacher? It doesn't have to be anything extravegant. A card, a picture from your child, an apple and a thank you note! You don't have to go crazy to let them know how much they are appreciated. I know that Mandee likes to do something each day of the week. Her parents are both teachers and she has felt the profound influence of that in her life and has a deep appreciation for those who choose this career path.

There are so many idea's out in the blogging world. Here are a few that we've found.

Sugardoodle, has an amazing list of ideas! From super simple to super cute to super fun!!!

Skip To My Lou, has compiled a great list. She alway's has great ideas!

Little Birdie Secret's has some darling idea's!

Family Fun is alway's full of great ideas!

Here is a great article, written by teachers about the best gifts they have recieved. Some of the ideas are so inventive!

Recipe Swap

You must go visit this great blog!! They are having a recipe swap! Don't know yet, if I will enter, but they have some great recipes that I want to try!!

My HCG diet (The Longest Post Ever)

I've had a lot of interest in the HCG program that I am doing. First of all, I am doing this on my own, I am not going to a clinic or being supervised by a doctor. If you google the HCG diet, you will find a ton of information online that you can read. You will also be able to find HCG in many different forms that you can purchase online. There are a lot of people who have had a tremendous amount of success with this diet and there are those who have not.

At this point I have been giving myself shots for 28 day's and have lost 23 pounds. I had several days where I did not lose weight, in fact I gained 1 lb., but was suffering from a serious sinus infection. I was taking tons of Emergen-cee and Nyquil at that time.

The first 2 days of the diet, are called your load up days. These days are fun! You eat and you eat and you eat. You eat all the things you love and all thing high in fat and sugar. I actually gained 3 pounds in those 2 day's, but I lost them on my very first 500 calorie day. For 21 days, following the loading day's you give yourself an injection of HCG. Then you are allowed around 500 calories a day. Sounds crazy, right? The first couple of day's were really hard. But at this point, it's not to bad. I am actually full when I eat my meals. Here is the breakdown of what you would eat in a day.

I have several friends who have done this diet and I am just following what they did. They have all had great success with it and have modified it a little bit here and there. Here is the breakdown of what foods you are allowed.

Meat: You can pick 2 servings of meat per day. Each serving is 4 oz. Grill or bake.

Beef
~Steak
~Extra Lean Ground Beef
~Beef, roast

Chicken Breast ~ Skinless & boneless

Wild Chilean sea bass. Wild Flounder
Wild Halibut, Wild Sole
Lobster, Shrimp, Crab

Buffalo or Veal

You can also do 1/4 cup lowfast cottage cheese or you can do 1 egg w/ 2 egg whites.

Vegetables: You can pick 2 vegetables to eat per day:

Lettuces of any kind / 2 cups
tomatoes 1 cup
Spinach 2 cups
cucumbers 2 cups
Asparagus 2 cups
white, yellow or red onions 1 cup
cabbage 2 cups
Broccoli 2 cups
Cauliflower 2 cups
Beet Greens 2 cups
Chard 2 cups
Red radishes 2 cups
Celery 2 cups
Fennel 1 & 1/2 cups
Chicory Greens 1 cup

Fruit: You can pick 2 servings of fruit per day.

medium sized apple
medium sized orange
1/2 medium sized grapefruit
10 medium sized strawberries

Melba Toast. You can have 2 slices of Melba Toast per day. Or if you can find them you can have one Grissini Breadsticks.

I think that each person has to individualize this to themselves. I tried making a vinegar dressing for my salad and I ate it every day for about 10 days and I couldn't eat it any more. I found Fat Free Italian dressing, by Kraft that has 16 calories per serving. I opted to add 16 calories to my diet, because it gave me another option. Your not really supposed to have oil, while you are on this diet, but I figured it's such a small amount, and it hasn't stopped my weight loss. I also use Fat Free Non-dairy coffee creamer. Your allowed 1 tbsp. of milk a day. So I use that on my strawberries. I have also found that herbal tea is very helpful. I try to drink 2 glasses a day to help me meet the water intake requirements. Green tea, is also very good for you as it is full of antioxidants and aids in weight loss. I was able to find several different brands that carried decaffeinated green tea. I sweeten the tea with Truvia, which you can find at Walmart in the sugar section. It is a calorie free sweetener and it is very good. I use it sometimes on my strawberries or grapefruit. On my very bad day's I have sugar free posicles. They have 10 calories per popsicle, and it just makes you feel like your having a little treat. Your also not suppossed to have diet drinks or Crystal Light, but I have been allowing myself 1 Crystal Light a day. At 10 calories, this hasn't altered my weight loss either. On day's I have a popsicle, I will opt not to have the Crystal Light. You can also find sugar free Creme Savers that have 9 calories per piece.


So here is my normal day.

Breakfast: Melba Toast, strawberries w/ 1 Tbsp. fat free French Vanilla Creame & 1 cup tea

Lunch: 4 oz. chicken w/2 cups steamed broccoli

Snack: 1 orange w/ melba toast

Dinner: 4 oz. fish w/2 cups spinach & 2 tbsp. fat free Italian dressing & 1 cup tea

This diet takes an amazing amount of willpower! One thing that I have learned is that I REALLY need to watch my portion control. I don't miss sweets as much as I thought I would. I miss milk and cheese more than anything. This isn't for everyone. My sister started it with me, but she did not do the shots. She lost 18 pounds very fast, but was very tired and wore down, so she stopped after about 2 weeks. I'm not exactly sure how the HCG works, but it does!!

Fingerpaint A Picture For Mothers Day

I came across this wonderful easy recipe for fingerpaint in a book our elementary school put together. Man was it fun! I love finger painting and it was even fun for my 15 month old daughter.

We made these fun pictures for our grandmas for Mothers day. I love giving homemade gifts to them just as much as they love receiving them. What beats a fingerpaint?

2 cups water
1/4 cup cornstarch
food coloring

Bring water to a boil. Add small amount of water to cornstarch and blend together to make a paste. Gradually add paste to boiled water, stirring well. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat. Add food coloring of your choice. Cool; mixture will thicken as it cools. Makes 2 cups.

World Wide Ward Cookbook & I Can't Believe It's Not Food Storage Book Review

I love Crystal's sight, Everday Food Storage. I have visited it a lot in the last year. Well, Crystal came out with a book, I Can't Believe It's Not Food Storage. I knew this was one of those books that I had to have! My sweet hubby bought it for me for my birthday! It's like having access to the website, but in book form. She walks you through step by step on how to build up your 3 month supply and then move onto your 1 year supply. She also has places where you can write in your amounts to fit your family, so it's all kept right there in the book. I love her recipes and am way excited to be able to try them out. Gotta get off my diet first. I made chocolate pancakes for my kids on Saturday and I used my powdered eggs. Such a proud moment!!

For my birthday, I bought myself the Worldwide Ward Cookbook. First of all, it's the prettiest cookbook ever. I don't know if I will actually be able to use it in my kitchen because I would be afraid to spill something on it. It is full of great recipes. I love the beautiful pictures and I love how she has included the stories to some of the recipes. I actually teared up a time or two as I read the touching stories. And it's such a small world. I saw atleast a dozen recipes that we make on a regular basis. I have a fabulous peanut butter popcorn recipe that I make up and to my suprise it was in the book! I have never found anyone outside my own family who had ever had this. Maybe I need to get out more.

If your interested it looks like they are going to make a Worldwide Ward Cookbook 2!! If you would like to submit a recipe, click here for all the details!

Both are great books and I am so excited to use them. I'm making a bean dip recipe out of the Ward cookbook tomorrow for a family party. I'll post it later this week!

Flying Giggles & Lollipops: Boutique Inspired Hair Clips Giveaway!

Flying Giggles & Lollipops: Boutique Inspired Hair Clips Giveaway!

Baskin Robbins 31 Cents Night

I am so excited to announce this! Every year Baskin Robbins has 31 cents night on April 29 from 5pm-10pm. They, then in turn give a $100,000 donation from the proceeds this brings in to the National Firefighter Volunteer Council. I think this is amazing. My husband was a volunteer firefighter for a couple of years until his schedule got crazy. But I know that this money benefits all these great volunteer fire stations around the country.

Participating stores will reduce prices of small ice cream scoops to .31 . At some locations you may also have an opportunity to make a donation to local fire charities.

So go get a scoop for 31 cents and in turn you will be helping a great Council. For a reminder, which if you are like me will be needed, just text SCOOP to 31310 and they will send you a one.

We have Winners!

Congratulations to Erin & DV-Rebecca!

Thanks to everyone who entered. If you ladies will send us an email with your mailing address we will get these out to you.

Mandees Monday Menu

Ok, I have a confession to make. I am an official "blog stalker" of HayLees food blog. It is heaven. You can almost taste the food right through the pictures. My whole menu comes from her, except for Thursday (Sloppy Joes) and Saturday. I wish I were HayLees sister, friend, or even neighbor so I could benefit personally from her great cooking. Go check it out, you won't be sorry you did.


Monday: Chicken Divan Crepes(way easy, and SUPER tasty)/Sweet carrots

Tuesday: Hamburger Soup (huge success at my house)/Rolls

Wednesday: Balsamic Roasted Chicken/Roasted potatoes and carrots

Thursday: Sloppy Joes/French fries/corn on the cob

Friday: Fast and Easy Chicken Pot Pie (SOOO excited to try this)

Saturday: Canadian Bacon Pizza (another great site-Erikas Sweet Tooth)

Sunday: Roast and potatoes (of course)

I also fell in love with Erikas Sweet tooth blogs. I am excited to try out a few of her yummy desserts this week. I will for sure post them and give her ALLL the credit!! What would we do without eachothers recipes????? I have a recipe addiction....can't.....get.....enough.....

Chocolate Pankcakes

Pancakes:

1 & 1/2 cup flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
6 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. baking cocoa
1 & 1/4 cup warmed milk
4 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
2 eggs, beaten (or use powdered eggs which would be 2 Tbsp. dry egg & 6 Tbsp. water)

Mix and sift dry ingredients. Add milk, butter and eggs and beat until smooth. Add extra milk if the batter is too thick. Cook as you do regular pancakes.

My 6-year-old said that it was like eating cupcakes for breakfast. He ate it without any syrup or anything on it. Recipe courtesy of the Worldwide Ward Cookbook.

Awesome Giveaway

I love this blog I stumbled across the other day. It is called Learning Together Hand in Hand. Anissa is giving away three "Link To Your Site" buttons. Brandy and I would LOVE To have a button for our blog....One of our dreams actually. We didn't think we would ever have our own button....now we are crossing our fingers that we may win one of our very own!!!! Go check out her site, you won't be sorry. It is such a fun blog!!

Eat This, Not That

I saw this today while I was reading the Yahoo news updates. I found this to be very interesting and at the same time entertaining. This wonderful website tells you what to eat at restaurants, fast food joints, and what the reasoning is. It also gives you tips on how to make your trips to the fast food joints healthier. For instance, at Wendys have them give you only four pieces of bacon and not use mayonnaise on the BLT. That will drop over 200 calories off the burger. Also, at Little Caesars, you can ask for bread sticks without the parmesean cheese and that will drop calories off dramatically.
It is really fun to see how and where the calories show up. So, if you are interested go here to check out this cool stuff. There are some places on the site you have to be a member to see, but I spent awhile on the site just looking at the things available for everybody. I now know I will never have a milkshake from McDonalds again!!!!!!

Fribbit Coloring Contest

A little something, something to kill some time. Let your kids enter Secret Agent Josephines coloring contest! Click here to find out the details, but hurry quick! She's announcing the winner on April 27th!

Snickerdoodles

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup butter, softened
2 eggs

1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cream of tarter, baking soda and salt. Set aside. Using a mixer, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, Slowly add the flour mixture and mix until well blended.Mix together the 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Shape in to 1 1/2 inch balls and roll in the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until light and golden. You don't want to over bake these. This recipe makes about 3 dozen.

I found this recipe at Jadi's Favorite Recipes. Super yummy I'm told! I am still doing the HCG, so I actually didn't taste them, but my kids loved them and so did our friends we took them to. We will defiently be making these agian.

Super Yummy Dinner

Easy Sweet Carrots
Honey Chicken (from Simplify Supper)
*I know the picture of the chicken isn't very good but the lighting in my dining room is terrible. I promise it is so much better than what it looks! The carrots are like carrot candy, seriously, I have never seen my kids devour carrots so fast.

Easy Sweet Carrots

3 C baby carrots

1 T butter

1/4 C brown sugar

Cook carrots in boiling water about 15 minutes or until very soft. Drain into colander. Add butter and brown sugar to pan and cook over low until melted and well combined. Return carrots to pan and stir until carrots are well coated.

Honey Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/2 C butter

1 C honey

1/4 dijon mustard

2 T curry powder

Line chicken breasts in casserole dish. Melt remaining ingredients in saucepan. Pour sauce over chicken. Cover and bake at 350 for 60 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 30 minutes.

17 Again ~ Movie Review & A Kidnapping

I wanted to go see 17 Again for my birthday. I love Matthew Perry, and he hasn't been in anything for a long time! It looked so cute, but my husband didn't really want to go. So the day after my birthday he helped Mandee set up this big elaborate plot to kidnap me and throw a surprise party for me. And I didn't even have an idea. She called me and said that she was stranded in town and needed a ride. We were conveniently already on that side of town, so we ran over to my sister-in-laws to pick her up. Josh sent me to the door to get her and he hurried and pulled out of the driveway and drove off with me at the door. The door came open and SURPRISE! It was a party with all my sister-in-laws, mother-in-law and Mandee. I'll tell you more about it at the end of the post, but here's the info on this AMAZING movie!
Mike O'connell is living with his best-friend, because his wife Scarlett kicked him out. His kids hate him and he just lost his job. He goes back to his old high school to relive his glory days. Here he unknowingly meets his spirit guide, who helps him transform back to his 17-year-old self. He thinks he has a chance to go back and relive his life, a chance to follow his dreams. But once he's 17 he finds out how much his kids really do need him and realizes a lot about himself along the way!

It was a great movies. Zac Efron did an amazing job. The story is cute and I LOVE the points that Zac's character tried to get across to all of the teenagers. He really acted like a parent trapped in a teenagers body. My favorite scene was in Health class, where of course they are talking about sex education. So funny! I am definitely going back to see this one again. I'm making my hubby go, he'd love it. It's hysterical! I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

I have admit that I have never seen High School Musical, I have little boy's and they weren't just that interested, but he's a great actor. He reminds me of a young Tom Cruise. He's extremely good-looking!! Oh my! I think I've got myself a little bit of a star crush on him. He's 21, just so you know. I checked it out.

And here we are. All in our party hats, and me in my tiara! From L to R: Kris, Maggie, Me, Becky, Meagan, and Mandee in the green! We wore our party hats to the theater! It was fun. Imagine my surprise when Mandee jumped up and led the whole theater in singing happy birthday to me. I was melting in my seat, but it was fun! They were even kind enough to not buy popcorn and candy to eat in front of me. So sweet! Thanks girls for a great evening!

Happy Birthday Brandy!!

Today is Brandys birthday! I just want to publicly thank Brandy for being such an awesome friend. I am honored to call her my bestfriend. She is such an amazing friend to everyone she meets. She has such a positive attitude that is contagious.

Brandy, I hope you have a wonderful day and I love you girl! You are amazing and you deserve a great day dedicated to YOU and only YOU!!!!

A Cast with Bling Bling

My daughter BayLee broke her arm lastweek and just got her hard cast this week. We decided to cover the cast in jewels and beads. I let her pick out the beads and where to put them. We used hot glue to adhere the beads. She was so excited to show off her Bling Bling!!

I Miss Food

I have been on the HCG diet for 13 day's and food seems to be consuming my thoughts! I've decided that I am just not meant to be a skinny girl. I am dreaming about cookies and cupcakes, and baked potatoes. I have to admit I love food. This diet has been eye opening for me, however and I realize I do need to eat better and get in more exercise. But do you have to be miserable or can you find a balance?

I have lost 12 pounds. And I feel better, my pants are fitting much better. The first few days were miserable, but every day gets better. That doesn't mean that I am constantly tempted. Every time I see a cookie, I have to physically pull myself away. I'm also a little on the cranky side. I think my kids would rather a happy, chunky momma, then a skinny, awnry momma. But I am committed to do this diet for 23 day's and go from there. We'll see where I am at in 10 day's. I just hope there aren't cookies in my house on day 24, or I'm busted!

When you have no money, you like to window shop. To go to the mall or in my case the craft stores, and browse around and imagine what you could buy, if you had the money. It's kind of the same way with food. I have been blog hopping and have found some FABULOUS cooking blogs. I kid you not, I have printed about 100 recipes that are just waiting until May, when I can eat agian. My husband came in, while I was blog hopping and he thinks I am crazy for looking at food, but it's like window shopping. I am imagining how yummy it all tastes. Am I crazy, or what? I must share a few that I have stumbled upon. I am also adding their buttons to our side bar.





Haylee's Food

A Cup of Sugar

Good Eats n' Sweet Treats She has this on her side bar! (In life, there are two types of people: those who eat to live, and those who live to eat. I fall within the latter group :) AMEN TO THAT SISTA!

Sour Cream and Salsa Chicken

This is one of those food items that is hard to get a good picture of, but it is one of my very favorite meals. I love crock pots!!

Sour Cream and Salsa Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breast-cut in half

1 pkg. taco seasoning
1 c. salsa
¼ cup sour cream
Shredded cheddar cheese

Spray crock pot with Pam, add chicken, sprinkle with taco seasoning and top with salsa. Cook on low for 4-6 hours or high 1 ½ hours to 2 ½ hours. Add sour cream and sprinkle with cheese. Stir until mixed and shred chicken with a fork. Serve with tortillas & Spanish rice. Also awesome on taco salad or quesadillas.

My very favorite way to eat it is to put inside a flour tortilla with tons of fresh spinach and just a touch of ranch dressing. However, I leave out the sour cream when I plan to do this.

We also eat these as a chicken breast. We just leave the sour cream out. So yummy!

Everyday Food Storage Book Available

How many of you have ever been to Crystal's sight, Everyday Food Storage? I found her sight about a year ago and I check in atleast once a week to see what's cookin'! She has great recipes to turn your everyday meals into meals that are made with food storage. Her new book is going to be released on Friday and I AM SO EXCITED! She's giving away 6 copies of her book. Hurry over to her sight to see the rules for entering! It has to be a faulous book, because I have tried lot's of her recipes and I am so excited. My birthday is Friday, so this may be what I ask the hubby to get me!!

Spring Collage

Time to pull out the old magazines, scissors, and glue. I thought making a collage would be fun. I told them to cut out things that made them think about spring. My kids had so much fun doing this. I originally only got one folder out (what I used for the poster) for my 6 year old thinking that my 10 year old wouldn't want to do it. Well, I was wrong. He wanted to do it too. So he made one titled "My Favorite Things". It was really fun and a great way to use up magazines. Now we are all geared up for Spring.

Mandees Monday Menu

Sorry, it is a little late in the day.....recovering from the Easter weekend! I have been looking for good recipes to help my hubbies weight loss program. Such fun food!!!! I used recipes from three different places this week. They are on our Side Bar: Sisters Cafe, Simplify Supper, and 2 kids and 2 tired. Thanks ladies for your great recipes!!!

Monday: Lasagna/Green Salad/Garlic Bread (rolled over from lastweek)

Tuesday: Layered Chicken and Black Bean Casserole/ Green Beans w/carmelized onions

Wednesday: Honey Chicken/ Sweet Carrots

Thursday: Mahi Mahi w/lemon and lemon pepper/ Summer Spinach Salad

Friday: Chicken and Rice Soup with Baking Powder Biscuits

Saturday: Spaghetti Marinara/Asparagus

Sunday: BBQ Pork Chops/ Salad

Alison's Pantry

I want to tell you about a great company, Alison's Pantry. I have been a distributor for Alison's Pantry for about 2 years. I started selling it because, they have amazing products! My mom was a distributor, many years ago, when I was a kid and my sister has been a distributor for several years.

When my last baby was born, I took a leap of faith and quit my job of 8 years. I wanted to stay home with my kids. I decided that I would sell Alison's Pantry as a way to help bring in a little bit of income to my home and use it as a way to build up my food storage. I have yet to bring home any money, but I do bring home lot's of yummy food! Every month I put all of my income right back into products. It's been a huge supplement to our grocery budget.

This has been a great opportunity for my family. Everyone helps out. My kids help to deliver flyers and help bring in the smaller boxes, on the day's that the truck comes. My husband, helps unload the truck and deliver orders. It's been a great opportunity to teach my children about working hard and allows us to do so as a family.

The best part about Alison's Pantry is the products! I could go on and on. You really don't have to sell the products because they sell themselves. They carry everything from Pantry basics, such as wheat, spices, and bulk jello to frozen food, such as pizza sticks, chicken strips, steaks, and precooked bacon. They also carry candles, canning supplies, storage containers and emergency supplies. It's amazing, the wide variety of items that they carry. We have our favorites! We LOVE the Daily's precooked bacon, the Alison's Pantry Pretzel mix, Vanilla Powder, Tools Chicken Strips, and Yukon Gold Hash Browns. The list could go on and on! These are only a few of the items we order on a regular basis.

They have distributors in the following states;Utah, Idaho, Nevada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Colorado, & parts of Arizona. If your interested in finding a local distributor, contact me at mandeeandbrandy@yahoo.com and I can get you that information. Or if your interested in becoming a distributor, you can also contact me and I can get you to where you need to go. To check out our current catalog, click here, then click on catalog 6.

Easter Egg Blowing

I have always wanted to try this and thought my kids would enjoy it too. First of all we washed the eggs. Then I just used a pin to poke a hole in both ends of the egg. Then very carefully blew into the egg causing everything to come out the other end. I thought it would be fun to have the kids color them then give them to Grandma and Grandpa for Easter.

They had a really fun time doing it and I think we just created a new tradition! Next year I want to make an easter tree using the eggs we did this year and just add to the tree year after year.

Free Precious Places DVD from Fisher Price

I found this awesome deal, via Making Life Sweet.... One Deal at a Time.

Fisher Price is offering a free dvd for your little princess!! It's a new product line by Fisher Price, called Precious Places! This is completely free to do. No shipping, just an offer to get a great movie! I ordered one and I'm thinking stocking stuffer!

Just click on the link HERE, and follow the instructions! You will have to wait for 12 to 14 weeks to recieve it. They even have the episode online so you can watch it first, if you'd like. This won't last long, so hurry and go get your free movie!