Throw Back Thursday!

I decided to start a new "Regular" post.  Whats better then a blast from the past?  Throw Back Thursday is a great way to show all my favorites (and some ridiculous stuff that we thought were awesome).
I thought why not start back....way back...this week!  The 80's where I was proudly born!

Jelly Shoes!  I lived in these for many many years. I also believe that I owed every color possible!  Who wouldn't love these shoes?  They were so comfortable, stylish, and just plan AWESOME!

Simon Says.  I would rack this up to being on of the best games from my childhood.  This thing could keep me busy for hhhoooouuuurrrrrsssss!  And somehow Simon also won :-(.  

I would think this is a good start.  Tune in next Thursday to see what other crazy stuff I can dig up for Throw Back Thursday.  

Or if you have an awesome idea that you loved, let me know and I can add it to the list! 

*Shanna Marie*

Simple and Easy Chili

Who doesn't love Simple and Easy?  I have modified many different recipes trying to find a cheep and Delicious chili.  The kids come home excited to have supper (they don't care for chili) but they love this recipe probably because it's not spicy.
OK...all you need is......
2 cans of light red kidney beans (I picked up the HyVee brand 89 cents each) rinsed
2 cans of dark red kidney beans (also HyVee brand for 89 cents each)  Also rinsed
2 large (29 oz) Hunts sauce ($1.88 a piece)
1 can of diced tomatoes (HyVee brand 89 cents)
1 lb of stew meat (on sale for 4.17 I think!) Browned
1 lb of ground turkey (trust me...it is delicious, my fiance was skeptical until he tried the finished product)(2.68)  browned
1 package of McCormick Chili seasoning (.99 any brand will work)
4 tablespoons of Italian seasoning (I had on hand)

Get out the crock pot and throw it all in.  Cook on high for about 3 to 4 hours and I then turn it to low until we are ready to eat.  It can be put on low for 6 to 8 hours if you want to throw it all together before leaving for work or etc.
So for less then 15 dollars you can have supper tonight plus lots of left overs.  We have a family of 5 on a regular bases (6 if we have the munchkin! but I haven't tried feeding a 2 year this.  The older kids 6 to 10 years old love it).

We put cheese and oyster crackers in ours! Top with your favorite topping!
Enjoy!

*Shanna Marie*

5K

I decided as a New Years Resolution that I was going to run a 5K this year.  I am NOT a runner...no where close :-(.  So I've had to start at the beginning.  I have tons of friends (who are runners by the way) that ran in a 5K called the color run.  The pictures looked like so much fun.  I think that's where the spark got started.

How does it not look like fun?  Then I remembered that I would actually have to run lol.  I'm not even sure if I ran the mile in high school straight through but I'm guessing its a no.  Oh well what a better time then now.  Turning 30 makes you think about all the things that you have missed out on.  

The race takes place in September in the Des Moines area which thanks goodness cuz I'm going to need that much time to prepare!  Being winter time in Iowa its really hard to just get out and run with all these snow storms.  I do own a treadmill but it doesn't compare to the open road (this is what I've been told).  But I figured I would still start using the treadmill just to get used to running.  

So I started slowly....running for 3 mins straights!  I'm now up to 17 mins straight.  Yahoo!  Progress is always good.  Now that is only 1.43 miles :-(.  You had to have known there was going to be a downfall for this non-runner lol.  I only have 1.67 miles left to make it.  I might even get there to start with an early 5K.  Now I'm not pushing it haha but I am challenging myself.  

I will keep everyone updated on how well or terrible I do in my process.  

If any 5K runners out there have any ideas/suggestions/comments I would gladly take them!  

*Shanna Marie*

Little Mommy Melt Down

Every mom is entitled to an emotional break down every once in a while.  Some moms go into the laundry room and scream it out.  Others go out with the girls for a drink or two.  I send the kids to their other parents.  Yeah not every one has that luxury and I wish I didn't but it works for the situation that we have.  This week has been beyond exhausting and taxing.  I have been studying for weeks for 3 exams and a 40 min speech (which all took place within 3 days) then still had to go to work.  Work I believe topped it off this week.  I work with special needs children and bless their little old hearts but they were stir crazy and rebellious this weekend.  We are hitting that dead of winter time where all children want to do is not be trapped in the house.  All I could do after my long shift was take a coma nap and a hot-hot-hot shower.  And thank heavens for my soon to be hubby who went and bought me cinnamon cashews from Bass Pro (my all time favorite).

So how do you vent?  How do you deal with the everyday stresses that always seem to build up and explode when you least expect it?  

*Shanna Marie*

Yarn Eggs Kids Craft for a Snowy Day

Well as you know snow days can be down right terrible if you don't keep the kids busy.  They have only gotten out early and they are all ready bouncing off the walls (what will I do tomorrow is school is canceled lol).  I let them get craft with a yarn egg craft.
What you need:
Yarn of choice-it doesn't require much so you could just buy one if you wont want a variety or spend a ton of money
Elmer's glue:  I just bought two large bottles and one used one for 8 eggs.
A package of balloons-the amount depends how many eggs you want to make.
foil or freezer paper-I didn't realize that I was out of freezer paper so I impervised and used foil.

You dip the yard (about 2-3 feet depending on how big you make your balloons).  And of course you need your little helpers.  I had three but one decided that it felt too gross which is so not her lol.

Here I have my two helpers.  I cant figure out for the life of me why they are sideways.  There are not sideways in my photos but here they are sideways.  We will just go with it!  They have soaked the yarn in glue and will start to wrap the it around the balloon in any pattern that they choose.  You just need to make sure it sticks to the balloon fairly well and that an end crosses another part of the yarn.

Once again Im sorry for the sideways picture :-(.  You can see that some of the kids got glue happy and creative with where they placed the yarn.  There is no right or wrong way to do it so I wouldn't worry too much.  Its more of a fine motor skill practice.
So now you wait for a good 24 hours to dry.  Once it had dried you pop the balloon and clean off all the glue.

You can see from the second picture there was alot of dried glue around the yarn that I scrapped off.  

And tada!  I placed them all into a triffle bowl that we keep on the kitchen table.  it can be stung up to create a garland if wanted.  

Once again I have no idea why my pictures are transfering crazy.  But there you are.  Something to keep the kids busy and they get to get their hands gooey.  

*Shanna Marie* 

Knitting

I finally broke down last October and decided its time to learn how to knit! My grandmother had tried teaching me in elementary school but I was not interested. I have kicked my self ever since.
I signed up for a 3 session(2 hours each) beginners class. It really was for beginners of all ages. The lady was very patient and just awesome! Now since it was just a beginners class we learned two stitches:knit and pearl. Oh and to cast on and off. I got pretty good at each of those thinking I could do a scarf with those two! Well it's not the best looking thing but it still looks like a scarf lol. I guess I take it as a win! I also learned that im probably the slowest knitter too. Now that I have actually gotten the first project done its all uphill from here! I'm pretty hard of my self about crafty things so it might not be as bad as I think it is..at least to the less creative eye lol.
Anyways here is the first finished project! I hope to add more projects because I discovered that its really relaxing and fun.
For the knitters here is the pattern:
Cast on 45 stitches
K1 P1
Just that simple!

Wedding or elope?!?!?!

My boyfriend finally proposed at the end of September '12.  I say finally cuz that's what every girls says lol.  We had only been together about a year at that point.  Now the decision of whether to have a wedding or to just elope.  We both have been married before so do we want to do it again is the question.
I was unlucky and had the wedding that my ex-mother in law wanted.  The only thing that I had a part in was my dress.  It was also put together in less then two months because we had a child together.  He let his ex-wife do all the planning and I really don't think he cared what kind of wedding there was lol.
Every girl dreams of having the huge wedding but we don't have the budget for that.  I had a heck of the time  putting on a baby "Sprinkle" for my cousins 2nd baby.  I'm not sure I could multiply that to a wedding magnitude :-(
We also can't get married until I'm close to being done with school due to financial aid situations.  That does give us plenty of time to save up for a medium sized wedding so money doesn't seem to be the main issue.  Both of us have small and uninvolved families so a fear is nobody will show up.   But if we just elope I feel that some family will be upset and I don't get a wedding that I get to actually have a part in.  Eloping and taking a honeymoon sounds like the easiest because of the kids.  UUUgggg what is a girl to do.
Decisions....Decisions....Decision.
What have you decided to do in such a dilemma?

*Shanna Marie*

Chores

So we have gotten to the point where the kids want money..and lots of it :-(.  Which of course being a thrifty person (or a tight wade take your pick) I decided what a great time to start doing chores.  Each child has different responsibilities to do each day depending on their age.  I haven't mastered the format yet but you can get the idea!

Here is a template that I found by just doing a google search.  It works well for us!

You can tell that they have been used quiet a bit!  They find it fun to get every thing accomplished in the day so I would take this as a WIN. I had to use packaging tape to allow them to reuse their lists from week to week.  I will soon invest in a laminar because those things are so handy and pretty cool!  I also came up with a list of family rules that we follow! It can be adjusted to fit your families lifestyle and problem areas.  We have a couple girls who like to speak each other's name with such anger so we had to have  rule for that.  And girls who fake cry (that usually works on dad) but I had to thrown that one in there lol.    

House Rules

·         No whining, crying, arguing, or complaining.

·         Ask 1^st

·         Say PLEASE and THANK YOU

·         Chew, Swallow, then speak

·         RESPECT others, stuff and sleep

·         NO Excuses,  ONLY reasons

·         Take responsibility for your self

·         NO hitting or pushing

·         NO NO NO shouting

·         Don’t say RUDE words

·         Do not bother someone in the bathroom

·         No jumping on the couch

·         If the answer is NO..it will still be NO later, DON’T ask again

·         NO fake crying

·         Do NOT speak someone’s name with anger.

·         NO talking when mom and dad are talking

·         If you open it, CLOSE it

·         If you don’t know how to operate it, Leave it alone

·         If you make a mess, Clean it up

·         Keep your hands and feet to your self

·         Do are you are told

·         Tell the Truth 

Until next time, this is my crafty tip of the day! 

*Shanna Marie*