Happy Homemaker Monday #28

Monday......Monday, Monday, Monday.   Why does it always seem like it's hiding behind a corner and creeps up fast?   I love my weekends with my family and then the week comes and it's just.....sigh.  LOL

Anyway, had another good, easy going, relaxing weekend but now it's back to work and house stuff and pretty soon school, but not without a little 4 day vacation the first week of August :)  I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to that.

Onto our Happy Homemaker Monday! 

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The Weather:::

We have been blessed with cooler temperatures, rain clouds, a little bit of pitter patter and even a dust storm.  It's been interesting around here lately :) 

On my reading pile:::

From the Kindle Fire -  Wedded to War by by Jocelyn Green.  Really enjoying it.
From the bookshelf   -  The Virgin Cure by Ami Kay (for a review on Thursday)  

On my tv:::

I have two episodes of Starlings to catch up on.
And I STILL haven't watched The Hollow Crown, so have those to catch up on too.
My Portuguese soaps - currently watching 3 of them.
Warehouse 13 returns tonight so I'm super excited for that one :)

On the menu for this week:::

I've been enjoying cooking so very much and watching how much my family enjoy the meals, makes it even better :)   My husband told me that everything he ate while gone tasted like dirt LOL

Monday -  Herb and Cheese Stuffed Burgers with Homemade Buns
Tuesday - Stir Fry Ginger Beef & Broccoli with Rice
Wednesday -  Chicken Stroganoff with Mashed Potatoes
Thursday - Spaghetti with Olive Garden Bread Sticks Friday -  Sour Cream Rice Bake
Saturday - Roast Beef and Swiss Sandwich Bake
Sunday  -  Rissois de Carne (Meat Rissoles)

On my to do list:::

Vacuum, mop
Iron and put away clean laundry
Make Hamburger Buns
Post recipes for Chicken and the Cream Cheese Pound Cake, on the food blog

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

Messing around with lace and ribbon and creating cute things for my home.  Had an empty Potato Stix canister that I kept, covered it with this adorable ribbon and now it holds some plastic flowers. 

Homemaking Tips:::

Here's a great tip for keeping bananas fresh longer.   Cut a small piece of clear plastic wrap, about the size of the palm of your hand.  Wrap it tightly at the top of the bananas, where the bunch is held together.  Everytime you remove a banana make sure to rewrap it tightly.  It will prolong them for 3 to 5 days longer than usual :)

Looking around the house:::

My hubby just left for work and the kids just walked sleepily into the living room.  They are now relaxing on the couch watching some cartoons.  My pugs are both asleep at my feet, of course.  I just fixed hubby's lunch, a chicken salad in a jar and some pound cake with strawberry topping, so I have a few items to put away and clear up on the counter.  Have a big mattress protector sheet in my bathtub soaking since yesterday, have to drain that water and rinse it out before throwing it in the washer.  I always soak my protectors and sheets first in the bath tub before washing.  Have floors that need sweeping and mopping (because my pugs are shedding and it's driving me nuts and I feel like I have to vacuum twice a day and still drives me crazy).  Going to enjoy the last of my coffee and finish up this post before starting the day :) 

From the camera:::

As destructive as the Dust Storms can be, and trust me they are......I still find them beautifully fascinating. 

On my prayer list:::

So many of you, I always pray for peace, for health, for love and for anything that you may be needing at the moment.
For our troops overseas and state side.

Bible verse, Devotional:::

Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
John 11:40

Just here......

living, loving, enjoying every second with my family.

I think too often we get so caught up with our daily going ons that we forget what is really important, and then we take things and people for granted, until we have to do without for a while and boy is that a good kick in the pants.

We've been spending every second we can together and we've laughed so hard at times, and smiled, and thrown out random "I love you's" just for nothing, just because.....handed out hugs and kisses as we pass by each other and it really does make for a wonderful family atmosphere when you let the people you love know just how much they mean to you.

But anyway, so just a few pics of what I've been doing, starting with this first one of one of my favorite coffee mugs, and as you can see by the clock yesterday afternoon called for a nice mug of coffee to keep me awake.

Headed to dinner at Texas Roadhouse which we love, the food is so good, the atmosphere, the decorations etc.

One of my favorite things about the roadhouse is when they all stop to dance. Nicholas on the other hand refuses to look at them, he says it's so weird and random that they just stop serving people to dance hahahahah

On the way home this storm was rolling in

It always fascinates me. While many people fear thunderstorms, I love them and I love watching them roll in, I love hearing thunder, I love seeing lightning and hearing the hard rain pelting down on the roof....but even more so, I love photographing the sky.

But that is a whole other post :)

This morning we headed to the mall, hubby had some Hot Topic coupons for Jasmine to use. She loves that store, and truth be told, I kinda do too LOL But my attention usually goes to the nail polish and I picked up some neon orange today....LOVE it.

Also picked these up for Nicholas, how cute are they?

Walked around Sears for a while and I drooled over the pink tools, what can I say?

Hubby pointed these out to me, they were on sale for 50% off.

Also walked by the Yankee Candle store and of course I couldn't just walk by, especially when I saw their Limited Edition Coconut Collection. Oh Lordy, you have GOT to smell these.

As a special treat, hubby got me all 5 votive holders and scents.

No.1 - Coconut and Sea Air

No. 2 - Coconut and Beach Flowers

No. 3 - Coconut and Mandarin

No. 4 - Coconut and Lime

No. 5 - Coconut and Vanilla Bean

If you love coconut, you have to go check these out.

After the mall we came home and just hung out, and I'm thankful for that because we were hit with another Dust Storm.

and within a minute or two, we're surrounded in this brown golden tinge.

Dust Storms are scary but they're beautiful at the same time, I am a huge fan of nature so I love just sitting and watching it all unfold :)

But now...I'm going to go paint my nails a neon orange that I picked up at Hot Topic, then watch Haunted London on my DVR and maybe a movie after that.

I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend so far :)

Oh! Gorgeous Lace!

Lace and Lace and more Lace.

There's something very feminine, very petite and beautiful about lace. I've always been fascinated with it.

And that's what I'm coming to show you today, my lace stash.

When my husband was this past month, he was able to visit with a lot of his family back in Oklahoma. One of those was Aunt Nita who I adore. She knows my love for yarns and crafty stuff, so she sent back a ton of yarns and ribbons and lace that used to belong to her mom.

That in itself is a treasure, to have a little of something so special :)

I was beyond myself with happiness with my yarn, but I was not expecting the lace and ribbons and oh....my....goodness. I fell in love immediately and just knew that I had to do something with it.

All sorts of colors and patterns and this one has to be one of my favorites, how adorable are those birds?

I can just picture these little yellow flowers on a table cloth or kitchen towel

So I sat here staring at my lace and knowing that I had to use it somehow, and I have a couple ideas in mind.

I love using mason jars for everything, and one of those things is as candle holders. I've used books pages to cover them before, I turned them blue etc....but I wanted something else.....


I grabbed my hot glue gun, a couple jars and some of the lace and set to work.

What a blast I had picking out the different lace and attaching it to the jars

So pretty

the beautiful candle light shining through the lace is something else isn't it?

It's a very quick project to do and the end result is just gorgeous

These are going to hang out on my Homeschool Area....but I am going to make a bunch more for my bedroom

And these are going to come very handy, indeed :)

Cooking Thursday - Chicken Meatballs with a Creamy Mushroom Gravy

Good morning.  I just realized I haven't posted anything since Monday, my goodness.  I've been so busy around here, spending time with hubby and getting back into our normal routine etc.
I do have a lot of stuff to show you and share with you, so I'll do that today.  Can't wait to get back to posting every day :)

This is such a delicious meal and your family will thank you for taking the time to grind your own chicken for these meatballs.

I use a hand cranked No. 22 Metal Meat Grinder and I absolutely love it.  They are inexpensive and well worth the investment.

Chicken Meatballs with a Creamy Mushroom Gravy

4 chicken breasts (grind through the meat grinder)
parsley
salt and pepper
garlic powder
onion flakes
2 bread slices
1 tablespoon flour
1 egg
Small onion, diced
Small can of mushrooms, drained
2 cups heavy cream


The best way to grind any kind of meat, is to have it either still frozen or semi frozen.  I always grind mind straight from the freezer.

Cut the chicken breasts into small cubes and grind.

In a bowl, add the ground chicken and the rest of the ingredients, except the bread.   In a separate bowl, place the bread slices, add a little bit of water and dip the bread until soggy.  Squeeze out the water, not all of it, leave a little.  Break into small pieces and add to the chicken mixture.

Mix everything well, add the flour and the egg, mix well and shape into meatballs.

Use flour to sprinkle on your hands and the chicken mixture so the meatballs don't stick.

In a skillet, add a little butter, and fry the chicken meatballs until done and nicely browned, remove to a plate. 

Add the onion and cook for a few minutes until tender.  Add in the mushrooms and the heavy cream and simmer for a minute or so.

Place the meatballs back into the skillet and heat for a few.

Serve with Rice :)

A picture tells a thousand words

:::: We love these and haven't had them since Idaho because I haven't found them around here. Well hubby found them at the commissary in Texas, so he brought some back for us. Grapples.....YUM!



:::: Breakfast Saturday morning, hubby ran out and picked up donuts. Mmmmmmm....



:::: ran around with the family, couple errands here and there and then stopped for lunch at Ono's Hawaiian Barbecue...had the Island Chicken Curry. SO GOOD.



:::: back home and I replenished my batch of homemade laundry detergent.



:::: this batch I used Zote soap instead of the Fels Naptha. Love the pink flakes :)



:::: had intermittent rain the whole weekend



:::: which made for some stunning cloud formations



Went to the movies that night and watched The Amazing Spiderman in 3D. SO good, what a great movie :)

Sunday morning we had breakfast together and then decided to head to the movies again so the kids could watch Ice Age Continental Drift. It was so cute and so funny, we had a blast :)

Stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch, then did a little shopping at Target and look what my hubby found me LOL I can't wait to try them :)



The afternoon was spent catching up on chores, like giving the turtle tank a really good cleaning. Now Squirt (Nic's turtle) does not like me. I don't know why, I have never hurt him, I've never even touched him but he just doesn't like me hahahah Anytime I walk into the room he will quickly run off his rock and into the water and furthest away from as possible, but yesterday I got to pick him up and scrub him clean and he was hissing at me the whole time. By the time I put him back in his clean tank he was SO mad, he was literally glaring....this photo just makes me laugh so hard because he is so annoyed with me LOL




:::: sat down and surrounded myself with a ton of yarn sent by my sweet Aunt. These are just a few, but I'm loving the colors and the different textures.



:::: in Arizona we mow dirt disguised as grass. So frustrating to be out there mowing and hitting rock after rock and kicking up a dust storm around you. BLECH!



Had a wonderful weekend, but hubby returned to work today and we're all falling back into our normal routines. Cleaning, laundry, picking up after the kids etc....also got our Homeschool Station for the year since we're beginning August 8th.




:::: last year we tried the dining room table but it didn't work for Nicholas, it was just a distraction and he didn't take it seriously, so we need to have an actual area for him to do his work



:::: also tried folders instead of composition books and THAT was a fail as well, they kept losing papers, or tearing them out etc. We're back to composition books this year, so I sat down and made some cute labels for the fronts



:::: and when not being used for schooling, this will be mama's little corner, where I can blog, facebook, check email, pay bills etc.

Happy Homemaker Monday #27

Good morning everyone, I sure do hope you had a fantastic weekend.  Ours was amazing, we disconnected from the world and reconnected with each other.  We laughed, we talked, we had good food and went to the movies and went shopping and held hands, and gave hugs and just thanked the Lord for being reunited.

This morning hubby is headed back to work.  The kids are not too thrilled, they feel that he was gone for 6 weeks and should be with them for at least a few days Hahahah
Unfortunately, that is not how the military works.  But it's ok, at least he is here with us and will be home at the end of the day.   :)

I did take a little break from the blog, but now I'm back and I want to again thank you all for sticking with me and for always being here with a kind word.  I haven't been the best of blog buddies as I haven't visited you all much at all, but I am back now and will be back to coming by daily and saying hi :) 

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The Weather:::

81 degrees, some random fluffy clouds in the sky.   We have had such glorious weather the past week, rain, cooler temperatures and even though it's really humid at times, I welcome it with open arms.  

On my reading pile:::

Still not reading anything, honestly haven't had time lately, but now that hubby is back and things are more relaxed, I am sure I will be back to reading in no time :)  

On my tv:::

I have four episodes of Starlings to catch up on.  (goodness)
Still haven't watched The Hollow Crown, so have those to catch up on too.
My Portuguese soaps - currently watching 3 of them.
Eureka tonight - last episode and hubby and I are so sad :( 

On the menu for this week:::

Hubby is back so that means, I'm back to cooking full time and boy did I miss it :)

Monday -  BBQ Ribs, Corn on the Cob, Baked Potatoes
Tuesday - Chicken Meatballs with Mushrooms, Rice
Wednesday - Bifes Estufados a antiga (Portuguese steak)
Thursday - Handmade Cavatelli with Pepperoni and Tomato Sauce, Garlic Bread
Friday -  Pork Tenderloins with Lemon and Cilantro and Garlic Butter Spaghetti
Saturday - Country Club Chicken with Mashed Potatoes
Sunday  -  Stir Fry Ginger Beef & Broccoli with Rice

On my to do list:::

Vacuum, mop
Iron and put away clean laundry
Quick run to the library to return books

What I am sewing, crocheting, knitting or creating:::

My wonderful Aunt Nita sent me a stash, and I mean a STASH of yarn, ribbon, crochet books etc.  I can NOT wait to get started on some projects.

Homemaking Tips:::

So your kids have posters they want to put up on the wall in their bedrooms, but you don't want to ruin the paint and you don't want to leave holes all over the place either......use toothpaste.  I know, when I first heard about this I thought it was crazy, but it WORKS!

You should not use a whitening toothpaste for this or something with "things in it." You know toothpaste these days, it's always packed with breath strips or something wild. Stick to the basics and you'll be all set. Shampoo works best when it's not "hydrating" which won't have the same sticking power.
Both will allow the poster to peel right off, assuming it isn't left on the wall for more than a few years (think less than 5 to be safe). It doesn't take much and you won't have to rummage through the garage to find a nail, tack or something else.

Looking around the house:::

Enjoying my cup of coffee with my hubby.  He is on his computer checking out email and facebook etc. and finishing getting ready for work.  I have missed these mornings with him, so.very.much.  :)
I have a pile of laundry to iron sitting on my deep freezer, I have ribs in the sink that I need to season and place in the crockpot.  Pugs are snoring away at daddy's feet and the kids are still in bed asleep.   It's quiet and it's just how I like it.  :)

From the camera:::

With the rain we've been getting lately, the sky has been a parade of beautiful fluffy clouds and I've enjoyed every minute of it. I love clouds, I love sky photos. You can check out some of mine on my Flickr set here "Sky Photos"

On my prayer list:::

My friend Jen, who is currently getting on an airplane with her three little ones to Hawaii.  They are PCSing there and her hubby who is in the Navy has been gone for a very long time.  This hasn't been easy for Jen, but she's a military wife, and she's strong and she will come through it brilliantly :)

Bible verse, Devotional:::

My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.
Psalm 62:1