Pioneer Woman-Marry Me Please?

Ok, so I love this woman! If you have never visited her website (to which there is a link for on the sidebar over yonder under Favorite Places to Visit) you are missing something! Lots of somethings as a matter of fact! She is funny in her writings-even in her recipes. She makes some of the yummiest looking foods and I am looking forward to making Marlboro Man's 2nd Favorite Sandwich for my hubby :) Pioneer Woman takes amazing photos also and I really, really want to live on her ranch-I don't want to muck any stalls, I just want to live on the ranch...probably not going to let me freeload off them, just eating and eating and eating...oh and enjoying the beautiful scenery...

But, when my oldest was about 2, I made these muffins for her every once in a while. I lost the recipe somehow during a move and could never find it again...until now (did I say I love Pioneer Woman?).

Here is the link to French Pastry Puffs--fattening but oh so good :) Would make a Christmas Morning breakfast :)

And be sure to check out her other recipes! You could gain 5 lbs just looking at them!!

PS-My friend at Living the Good Life Blog has a review on one of PW's (Pioneer Woman's) recipes that she made-it looks so yummy, so check her blog out (also over yonder under my blog list :) But, that is how I got started out this morning looking at the PW's website. I usually try to refrain from visiting it when I want to watch what I eat...but I guess I can watch what I eat while I put the food into my mouth-that is watching it right?

My Linen Closet

Ok, here it is-my linen closet. See all the sheets pretty much wadded up and thrown in there. Not my doing, of course By the end of this week, I plan to have a nicely organized closet where one can easily go in and see the sheets for their bed and grab them :)

Goal Setting

I have decided to start setting one goal each week to get some things done that I need to get done. I figure a week would let me do it little by little, not make me feel overwhelmed (which happens and I give up) and yet, I would still get things done.

My DH did this with the garage while he was on vacation. He did it little by little, going through boxes that we still had left over from the move. Some were boxes from his old pick up truck, some were boxes of tools, and some, well, some were my boxes of things Im just not sure to do with right now :) I will figure those out when I am able to get more storage ideas for inside the house---or.....

When I organize my linen closet :) That is my goal for next week. Two reasons-
1-it needs it!! Things are shoved up there, not only from the kids, but me too!!
2-this way I can see where the flannel sheets are that will go on everyone's bed soon :) The weather has been in the 80's this week, but I can see soon we will be ready for those snuggly, cuddly sheets!

This week, I took the time to clean up around my fireplace. I had thrown printer paper up there, just willy nilly--it is right by my desk at the moment, so it was nothing to do. I decided if I wanted to use that fireplace this winter, I better clean it up. So, along with straightening my desk and printer stand (which is part shelf, part filing cabinet), I got it done! It looks nice. I have a couple books that need to find a home in my room with the school books and three boxes to go out in the garage for recycling.

But, I realized when I was thinking about this post, you do not have to limit this to some chore around your house--you can make a goal for the week of reading a book you ahve been meaning to read for awhile now. Or, perhaps make it a goal to try a new dish two nights one week in order to shake up your menu. Or, and this is another thing I am doing when I am online, just once a day-go through all those emails you have been meaning to look at, or perhaps all those links in your Favorite Places and clean them up a bit. Right now, for me, it is my email box--ugh! At one time last week, I had over 500 emails! My DH asked why so many-he must think Im an online addict or something. Honestly, it is because I have begun to send myself a site I want to look over again, or use later on, then I forget about it, lose it, or it stays in my inbox patiently waiting for me to give it some attention :) I have decided to do that now and I have been able to knock my emails down by about 150 emails in the past couple of days. Now, Im down to about 250--still many to go but I will get there. I made folders to save what I wanted to look at-hopefully I will remember where they all are!!

A friend started me thinking about this-she is doing this with her family. Her goal ideas are much different from mine, but it is all the same concept. Make a goal for yourself-whether it is a month long goal, or a lifetime goal...write it down and do it. Her daughter had a goal with music. She wrote it down, stuck to her goal and within 2 weeks had mastered her goal and moved up to where she wanted in band class.  

Anyone can do this, and as I said, it can be as simple, or as detailed as you like. So, for me, to keep some direction for myself, I will take a pic of my linen closet tomorrow-totally untouched. When I am done at the end of the week, I will take another pic to show my results. This will help me feel like I need some accountance for myself ;) Oh, and the other good thing with cleaning my linen closet-I have a laundry basket and a rubbermaid tub that would be used for other things, but have linens in them...so this will be a two fold satisfaction or me!! YAY!!

Krazy Kitty!!

See the crazy kitty?! LOL! I could not resist adding this today. This is Joey, our kitten. He is full of spunk and really brings us alot of joy. He can also be pretty mischievious! He adores Katy and hates it when she goes to the bathroom and shuts the door, keeping him out. He will meow and meow-like cry almost- until she comes out :) He did this the other day-playing with my laundry room rug. He wrapped himself all up in it, then, either because he could not figure how to get out, or he wore himself out, he fell asleep :) It must be all that good free Iams I got last week at the store-lol!

Today is Love Note Day

It is also Shamu Appreciation Day, so don;t get these confused with the person you might send a love note too ;)

How nice would it be for someone to find a love note in their lunch, or hidden in their sock drawer? Maybe you could slide it under one of your kids' doors (love notes are not just for spouses, ya know ;). A hand written note is nice, but, even a love note-email would work. Anything, just to let that certain someone know you appreciate them, you love them and you took the time to think about them today-and not just with a phone call...you sat down and wrote or typed out your appreciation for them. Besides, if they really like it, they might just keep it ;) They might print out that email and keep it in a special place to look at later on in life when they need to remember.
So, take some time and share your love for someone-or 'SomeOneS' :)

My Savings Bottle

Hee Hee-Check this piggy bank out! My husband brought this home from a meeting at his work (he works for Anheuser Busch), so yes, it is a large beer bottle. Well, like a large beer bottle-it never had beer in it and the lid just pulls easily on and off-well, you get the idea :) It is a large piggy bank, just not in a piggy shape ;)

So, we decided we would pitch in our change to this jar-whether it be a penny here and there, all the way up to any quarters we might have. My husband brought this home two weeks ago, and so far, we have $10-at the least. I dug into it because I need to buy more sugar and I don't want to dig into our bank account for a few cents-lol! I plan to put that change back next paycheck when I do my grocery shopping. I shop with cash pretty much, so I can accumulate lots of change most of the time. And, honestly, I have started to pick up a penny when I see it.

I remember years ago when my sister was little, she started saving for a bike she wanted. She didn't have a job-after all, she was only about 5 at the time. But, she would pick up change whenever she saw it on the sidewalk, street, etc and put it into a piggy bank. My mom would add some of her change into the bank. In no time, she had enough money to buy that brand new, shiny bike!!

I'm not sure what we will do with the money we are saving-perhaps a camping trip, maybe a big family activity like fun at the Fair next year, or perhaps something that will benefit the whole family like a bigger kitchen table, a new dryer...well, who knows. But, I'm just so thrilled that we were able to save $10 in only 2 weeks!

New Links and New Blogs Added

I have meant to do this for awhile now--updating my list of blogs I visit. Some are new to me, some are not, but I enjoy the content on these and wanted to share with others. Most are frugal living blogs and have a wealth of information to share :) I also added in a couple Homeschooling blogs-some of which are also Frugalists like me :)

Glow In the Dark Yarn!!! Cool!!

I got the Bernat Newsletter in my email last week and they were announcing their glow in the dark yarn. They also had links to different projects you could make. One was for stars. That got me thinking--I could make lots of stars to hang on my Christmas Tree! Then, when the lights are out, my tree would glow with these little stars-how cute! But, my mind has been going full blast with the thoughts of all I could make with this yarn. How fun would it be to make some slipper socks for the kids with this yarn?! I also thought about making some flower shapes using the yarn for the girls' rooms. Stars would again be cool for the boys and the girls too :)

Here is a link to the free patterns on Bernat-look under accessories for the star pattern.

Bernat:Our Free Patterns

Making Pretty Binders

A friend of mine shared this with me and Im hoping to do it as soon as the weather cools a bit (I don't know why, but I love sewing when the weather is cooler for some reason). You take fabric and cover a binder making it look pretty, cool, or whatever. I am thinking what a great way to take my shopping binder and kicking it up a notch to not just functional, but attractive!! Im also planning to get fabric each of my kids like and covering their school binders.

There are many instructions out there for this simple project, but I like this one, especially for my shopping notebook, because it has little pockets right on the outside of the binder-convenient for coupons, pens, or even bills that I might be taking with me that day to drop off at the post office :) But, you could also do this with your Household Notebook.

I know many of us use those binders with the covers you can slide a decorated paper into. I love those, and all our notebooks have that, but after a while, these binders can start to split. By doing this method, you can cover those splits with some duct tape (maybe you can find colors to match your material ;) and then, make your cover for your notebook.

Recycling-Reusing? Well, either way, nice for the environment!!

Here is the link for the instructions my friend sent-
Lola Again-Binder Cover Tutorial   (and please check out Lola's purses-SO cute!!)

And here are some other instructions I found online-
Free Pattern & Directions to Sew a Binder Cover

Beat Up Binder Make-over