{ Slow Cooking Thursday }

All my slow cooking recipes are now online and starting today, I will add all the recipes shared weekly to my online del.icio.us site too. So if you're wanting to find ALL the slow cooked recipes that have been shared since the first SLOW COOKING THURSDAY, here is the link for you.

Don't forget to add your name to Mr Linky and a link back to your SCT post so others can come by and see your recipe too.

As always, share your slow cooking recipes but if you REALLY REALLY don't have one and still want to participate, then you can share any kind of recipe.

With Superbowl just around the corner, here's a great recipe for the day.

Bacon Wrapped Hotdogs

1 pound bacon
1 pound hot dogs
1 box brown sugar

Wrap bacon around hot dog pieces and secure with toothpick. Place in crock pot and pour brown sugar over them. Cook on high 3-4 hours or until bacon is brown.

You can also make hotdog bites, by cutting the bacon in half and the hotdog pieces into 1/4's...wrap the bacon around and secure with a toothpick before placing in the crockpot.

{ Are you hungry? }

Because dinner is served and if you need the recipes they're over at the food blog.

Steaks with Pepper Sauce

Apple Biscuits

{ Hear me Croak }

woke up this morning sounding like a drunk frog, I kid you not, it's the weirdest sounding voice ever, so there will be lots of hot tea with lemon and honey throughout the day.

Good morning everyone, I hope you are all snuggly and warm and staying away from those crazy snow storms. I do envy you, you know that, it's times like these that I miss Idaho the most and can not wait to return soon.


Last night was interesting, both kids woke up a couple of times screaming and crying with bad dreams. It seems to go in spurts with them, months will pass with peaceful sleeping and then they'll both go through a week or so of on and off again "night terrors". I know they say it's normal for kids to have these, but it's very frustrating for the parent. Not because I'm being woken up every hour and getting literally no sleep, though I admit that it's draining, but because I feel helpless and there really is nothing we can do to stop these dreams, but pray.

Everytime they have a bad dream, we snuggle in bed and say a little prayer asking God to protect them and to watch over while they sleep. It does help!

I'm curious though, do any of you out there experience the same thing?



Today I have both kids home with me, after a restless night with no sleep, they are exhausted and both with sore throats, glassy eyes and runny noses. I hate this time of the year, their school is in a constant cycle of sick kids, pneumonia, bronchitis and ear infections are running rampant. So here they sit, in their pj's, snuggled under the blankets with these miserable expressions on their faces. There's plenty of chicken soup, juice and hugs to go around.

I'm thrilled to see so many of you wanting to Pray along with me for our husbands. It truly is the best gift we can give them and especially during the month of February which is all about love :)

So now tell me something. Do you celebrate Valentine's Day with your husband? Do you go out to dinner or a movie or buy each other gifts or cards? Do you make it a special day?

I'm ashamed to admit that we don't, we just never celebrate it in any special way. Sure we'll tell each other "I love you" and "Happy Valentine's Day". But as far as exchanging gifts or anything, we just don't. Tell me we're not the only ones out there?
And if we are, I guess I have to change that LOL

As much as I want to stay and chat more, I have little sick ones to take care of, so I'll leave you with this little prayer that I got off one of my devotionals, it goes with the Prayers for our Husbands.

Father God, I want You to know
that I want to be a friend to my husband.
I want to fulfill the role for which I was made.
Let my husband know that my desires for him
come from my friendship with him and not
from wanting to take away his freedom.

Amen

{ Good Afternoon }

Come on in and sit with me, I have hot coffee waiting. It's kinda nippy outside, I got up this morning and when I went to let the pugs out, I couldn't believe how cold it felt. Now bear with me, I know when I tell you it was 40 degrees you'll laugh until you sides hurt, especially knowing that so many of you are dealing with negative degree temps.

The sun was just starting to come up and it was absolutely beautiful, actually breathtaking, so I took that moment to look into the distance and say a little prayer for a good day, a day of productivity, a day of health and a day of joy protecting us from any negativity that may try to step in our path. It felt good!

After dropping the kids off at school, I came back home to dishes in the sink and a load of laundry waiting to be switched from washer to dryer. I really need to make more use of my clothesline, but I tend to use it more in the summer and not so much in the cooler months.

So here's what else I've been doing this morning......

No matter how cool it is outside, I can't help but open the kitchen window. I love the scent of fresh air and the sound of the chirping birds outside. There's nothing like the morning air is there?

After having some breakfast, I had to make a quick run to the library to return my books and of course, browse through the new releases section. Which means, I come home with more to put in my basket.

On the list this time:

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards
In the Woods by Tana French
The Likeness by Tana French
The Saddlemaker's wife by Earlene Fowler
The Ghost Towns of the West

Back home, it was time to clean the fridge and reorganize in there. I'm very anal when it comes to this LOL No really, I am. I like all my stuff neat and tidy and items of the same category together. I just can't function when I open the fridge door and see the ham near the strawberry jelly or whatnot.

Weird huh?

Stepping back outside, I got some more lemons off the tree. I tell you it's overflowing with them and the branches are tipping down, some of them almost touching the ground.

To have seen this tree a couple of months ago, and to see it now, is just unbelievable. But it's taught me a valuable lesson, that no matter how bad something may look on the outside, there's beauty underneath just waiting to break through.


I tidied up the couch, the kids have made this their favorite spot in the house. That is where they snuggle under the blanket with their toys, watch tv, draw, rest. Even the pugs have started loving the blanket, it's not unusual to find one of them laying there taking a nap.

Washed, folded and put away all the kitchen towels

And now I am going to sit back, have a cup of tea and read a little of my devotionals.

Who knows what I'll be doing in an hour or two, probably puttering around the house again, cleaning or organizing, but for now, I am choosing to relax and surround myself with the love of God.

Oh and before I forget, starting February 1st, I'm going to start a 31 days of prayer for my husband. You are more than welcome to join me. Every day I'll list a prayer and you can just pray along with me.

You know that I feel that behind every wonderful blogging woman I have come to know, there is an amazing man, they are the ones working in the background. The ones providing for our families, fixing what is broken around the house, giving us a hug when we're down, listening to our bad days, putting up with the constant flashing of cameras in their eyes (admit it, you tote that camera around just as much as I do LOL).

So I think they need to be recognized and admired and acknowledged for the wonderful husbands they are and what better way to do that, than to devote a whole month of prayer to them. Will you join me?

{ Tips on Tuesday }

Do you have a tip on cooking, cleaning, homemaking, kids, marriage, travel or anything that you would love to share? Feel free to join in!

It's the time to start planning the family vacations, but it's always hard when you have to take into account something inexpensive AND interesting for the kids. So here are some tips for travel:


1 - For Car travel, here are some fun things to keep them entertained

2 - One thing we do on long car trips is to print out a map of our destination and the route to get there, the kids love crossing off the towns as we drive by and it gives them a sense on how close we are to arriving.

3 - Check out Traveling Series, you can find info on anything to start your vacation planning. From Camping basics to traveling checklists and even currency converter.

4 - Traveling USA is another great resource for vacation planning. You can even find a whole section on traveling with your pet, how cool is that? You no longer need to leave your friends at home with someone else, you can take them with you.

5 - And here's another one, All Traveling Kids Family Vacations. Chock full of info.

Planning a trip can be exhausting for the parents and it can become overwhelming when you're trying to take into consideration the expenses and all the thousands of places you could go....but that's why I always use these kinds of sites, at least I have fun while doing it.