Tuesday Blog Hops!!

Here are the blog hops I am participating in this week...hop on over and join in the fun!!

Mailbox Monday!! Weeks of 1/9/11-1/30/11

It is "Mailbox Monday" and man!! I got a ton of goodies over the last few weeks!!
Check it out!

Delallo 2011 Cookbook Calendar

Red Dress Pin-American Heart Association

The Inheritance of Beauty, a Novel by Nicole Seitz (Booksneeze, free for review)
Deadly Ties, a Novel by Vicki Hinze (free for review)

I'm a Trendsetter Sticker

Purina One Lamb & Rice Formula Dog Food 6 oz w/coupon

Purina One Salmon & Tuna Cat Food 6 oz

Member's Mark Complete Formula 4.3 oz

Boss Orange Fragrance Sample

Target Portrait Studio Coupons

Ollie's Coupon

Basic Elements of the Christian Life Books Volume 1,2,3

Spiritual Nourishment Book

The Glorious Church Book

The All Inclusive Christ Book

Atkins Pack: Quick Start Guide, Recipe Book, 3 protein bars

Have you truly been born again of water and the spirit book

Allure (free subscription)

Baby Talk (free subscription)

Soap Opera Digest (free subscription)

NasalCease for Nosebleeds

Disney Movie Stickers and Labels

St. Judes Return Address Labels

Forrest Whitaker Autograph

What Joy!!

Have you ever noticed that the smallest, most inexpensive stuff can make your little one smile from ear to ear? I got this Mickey Mouse toast imprint at a yard sale for 10 cents!! Press it hard onto a slice of bread until you can see the image and then toast the bread. They absolutely love Mickey's head being on their breakfast!!!



Though I haven't seen these in a store lately, they are bound to sell them somewhere and for probably under $1. What a great buy!!

Wordless Wednesday: My Baby is Crawling!!!!

I am Ecstatic!!

I am so excited today :) I participated in a blog hop yesterday and someone who has followed me, has my blog, Knead a Recipe?! featured under her "My Tuesday Find" blog. Click on the button below and go check out what she wrote about me :)

WEB ADDRESS"/>

Thank you 1grown2togo!!!

My Messy Car...

I haven't had a chance (especially due to the winter weather) to clean out my car. It is during these months that I get a chance to look at the story of us...



Matchbox Cars...used to run on the playground sidewalks by my 4 and 2 year kids during the fall soccer season.








Froot Loops...2 or 3 dropped on the way to our MOPS group. A place where mommies meet for a few hours to enjoy "girl time"








DS Stylus...my 12, 10, & 7 year old children love their video games!!












Random pieces of straw...left behind from the bales used to adorn our front porch during the fall.










Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul Book...I pull this out an moment that I get a chance to read. The best place is while waiting in the car during sports practices, traffic, and waiting for the school bus to arrive in the morning and after school.








Cd's....though I have XM Radio, I have my regular songs that always get me moving :)










Lottery tickets....we can all wish can't we?!!










Pennies....used to scratch off those lottery tickets.










Goldfish cracker wrapper....used to bribe my younger children to sit still while I coach my daughter's cheerleading squad.










Rock Salt...tons of pieces due to living in a snowy area...boo :(













Happy Meal Toy...exciting emergency hidden toys to pull out during long drives.








Roll of Paper Towels...smart for any mother of children, especially one who has 6! (strange that I don't use these more with them so handy)







I hope to have my Yukon XL cleaned out as soon as the temperature outside starts to look up, but for now....I am going to just enjoy the current memories of my children behind each thing I find under the seats :)

I'm Blog Hopping in Six in The Nest's Tuesday Blog Trail

Weekly Grocery Wrap Up...I got all of this for under $10!!

This week while in Washington, I stopped by Shop & Save and Giant Eagle to pick up some awesome coupon deals. Here is what I ended up with:

Shop & Save
Rice-a-Roni Broccoli Au Gratin-.50
Rice-a-Roni Parmesan & Romano-.50
Rice a Roni Parmesan & Romano-.50
Pasta Roni Easy Salads-.50
Texas Toast Garlic & Butter-.25
Texas Toast Garlic & Butter-.25

Total: $2.50

Giant Eagle>
Bagel Bites-$1.00
Kellogg's Crunchy Nut Cereal-$1.50
Kellogg's Special K Cereal-$1.10
Hostess Muffins-.48
Ronzoni Smart Taste-.00 FREE!!
Contadina Canned Tomatoes-.66
Contadina Canned Tomatoes-.66
Contadina Canned Tomatoes-.66
Yoplait Delights Parfait Chocolate Raspberry-$1.00

Total: $7.06

Grand Total: $9.56!! Very pleased with myself :)

I'm Participating in Monday Blog Hops :)

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Old McDonald had a Farm...

This weekend, we visited The Spring House for our "Family Fun Box" activity. With it being winter, we weren't able to take the kids on the farm tour or hit the outside play area. We have been here many times in the past, but have never really looked around. So today, we took a deeper look :)


The Spring House Restaurant/Deli/Bakery







The Spring House's many wheels and blocks of cheese :)









Old stoves which serve as tables to show off their many baked goodies!








They even make something tasty out of their leftover pie scraps :)







They sell the best ice cream here! The kids take a peek in to choose a flavor for their cones.







Each of my kids chose a different flavor of ice cream and then had fun taste-testing each others' :) We also bought their house specialty: chocolate milk. It is made fresh everyday at The Spring House.







Aren't these desserts divine?!!





The Country Shop






This is the little "country" shop housed within the Spring House.








You can buy country knick-knacks, primitive greeting cards, hand-poured candles and homemade soaps....you know we are in Steeler Country when even the homemade soap are black and gold!


We had a so much fun looking around a little more than usual. Here is what we learned while we were there; Whether you want...




Something sweet to eat...










A relaxing way to compete...









..or a place where new friends meet ;)





Go to The Spring House Farm! It is a warm place to be...






....even on a cold day :)

Eeeekkkkk!!!! A Rash!!!

Ever had a nasty rash that you just could not figure out where in the world it came from? Me! Me! I do!

I woke up this morning with a rash all over my face and neck. You can't see it, just feel the small bumps....

I am not sure if I had an allergic reaction to something or what? There is nothing new in my daily routine that I can think of. I have been stripping 30 year old glue from cabinets with Plant Power Goo Gone. Suppose I have an allergy? Maybe the greasiness somehow effected my skin? I haven't been wearing gloves and have been using a mini spatula to scrape at the glue with.

I haven't changed detergents or anything. One new thing...I have had a slight addiction to Hershey's Kisses during the last week.



I'm not allergic to chocolate though.....the thought of being allergic to chocolate is just insane!!! I can't be allergic to chocolate, I am 34 years old and never have been. At this point in my life, I don't believe I could even live without it. Oh, what you do to me chocolate!! Chocolate...chocolate....aaahhh!!! OK, I'm fine. Had to get that out.

Now if you'll excuse me...I need a piece of chocolate ;)

Blog Hopping!!!!

I am linking up this week on a few different blog hops. Come check out all the great bloggers :)
















Have Fun!!! Dede

So Sunny!!

Every morning, before my two year old son, Brandis even looks outside at the weather, he exclaims, "Mommy, it's a beautiful day!" This morning we had a snow covered driveway and 14 degree coldness! I wonder what life would be like if we all felt this way.

Unlike my son, I awoke this morning to the dim, gray light of day with a driveway waiting to be shoveled in freezing cold air. I would love to say that I could get up in the morning, look out at the nasty weather and be able to honestly say, "It's a beautiful day!!" Instead, however, I roll out of my warm bed and realize that I have to go through this dreary day whether I want to or not. The crazy (or not so crazy) thing that happens every day though, is what my children do to me. No matter what it is doing outside, my life becomes sunny the first second I lay eyes on them every morning. My realization is that my six children are the color in my life. They pull it all together just like a beautiful box of crayons.

Project Cleanup! Week 9

I am on Week 9 of Project Cleanup! this week. I went through my china cabinet, my den toy box and a book shelf. Here is what I ended up with:




1. Set of 2 mini metal candelabras
2. Set of 5 Grey Goblets
3. Plug in Tart Burner
4. I Can Quilt Book
5. Look at how to publish book
6. The Quotable Chesterton book
7. Wonder pets Plush Duck
8. Infant Hulk Toy
9. Sesame Street Battery Operated Bumper
10. Lots to Love Baby
11. Jeep
12. Motorcycle
13. Noisemaker
14. The Santa Clause VHS
15. Dr. Seuss How the Grinch Stole Christmas VHS



The Quotable Chesterton...a book that I reviewed from Booksneeze...my only review at this point is...yawn...







I have been wanting to learn to quilt for such a long time. I have pieces of old t-shirts that I would like to fuse together at one point. For some reason, when I try to follow any kind of how-to book when it comes to fabric (quilting, knitting, etc..) I can never follow them. So I especially went out and bought a kid's version of How to Quilt....still cannot follow it!! Crazy that I am a college graduate and cannot understand this quilting book. Oh well, just something else I probably don't have the time for anyway....







16. Girl's Jacket size M
17. Girl's Vest Jacket size 14
18. Steelers Windbreaker size 18
19. Yellow Infant Bunting
20. Snow Pants
21. Polo shirt
22. Set of Winter gloves
23. Old Navy Fleece Hat
24. Red Winter Hat
25. Blue/Black Winter Hat







26. Children Just Like Me Book
27. Sport First Aid Book
28. Successful Coaching Book
29. The Look It Up Book of Presidents Book
30. Celebrity Meltdowns Pop Up Book
31. How to Play Piano by Ear Book
32. The Best Advice I Ever Got Book
33-34. And then came you books
35. Crawford Country PA Visitor's Guide
36. 2009/2010 Mercer County Visitor's Guide
37-42: Children's Christmas Books





Does anyone remember my blog on the free TV? A quick recap: I had a non-working TV listed for $5 in the ads (figured someone could get a cheap handyman special) When the man pulled up, we knew that we couldn't charge him for the TV. An old man, who looked like he may have tinkered in this sort of thing since retiring, didn't look like he had much. We decided to just give it away and actually found another TV, which we also gave to him, in our garage. He refused to just take them. So he took a bag, dug through his car and he gave us some things. We ended up with a few cans of vegetables, a pack of pasta, some pliers, 2 PNC Pens and this visitor's guide. Though we don't live anywhere near Crawford County, I kept the guide around as a reminder of this sweet old man with a lot of pride :)

Here is where the items will go this week:

The Mission: 16,21,27

Recycling Bin: 35,36

EBay: 6,17,18,20,27,28,32

Yard Sale: 1,3,4,5,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,19,23,24,25,26,29,30,31,33,34,37-42

Elsewhere: 2

Total items cleaned out to date: 350 :)

Wordless Wednesday: All the Way Steelers!!!!

Tough!!!!

I live in a contemporary house with the oldest kitchen ever!!

My house was ahead of it's time when it was built 35 years ago. With slanted roofs and an awesome floor plan, the one thing they never updated before we bought the house almost 6 years ago, was the kitchen. Having an Interior Design degree and only so much money to work with, I designed around the counters and cabinets with the amount of money I was allowed for the project. Yellow speckled counters and very dark "framed" cabinets!

The first thing I did when we moved in was replace the horrendous huge, bulky handles that were in the center of each cabinet and drawer. I replaced them with chrome skinny handles. For a very long time, I debated trying to remove the frames on the center of the cabinets, but was afraid it would pull off stain from the cabinets that would be impossible to match up. Over the years, I eye-balled those frames daring myself to pull one off. When finally, my 2 year old son did it for me!! He opened the cabinet (by the frame) and a piece of the frame snapped right off.







No stain was removed, but check out the horrible 35 year old wood glue!! Now, I needed to make a decision, and a quick one! Do I want to just glue the piece of frame back or take this as a sign from God that the frames are cramping my style?!!

Off they came...31 frames between cabinets and drawers.






Now to find the toughest glue remover ever!






These are cool when they are off of the cabinets. Need to re purpose them into something....maybe some contemporary wall art?!!