That’s right, we bought over 60 pounds of produce in one shopping trip.

30 pounds of yellow onions (Early bird special)

12 pounds of tomatoes

Plus 1 bunch of bananas (Thursday Produce Day), 4 pounds of oranges, 12 avocados (Thursday Produce Day), 2 pounds of jalapenos, 3 pounds of carrots, and 2 bunches of cilantro.

This all started out because the onions were part of the early bird special at 11 cents a pound at Pro’s Ranch Markets. That is the cheapest we have ever seen onions in the store so we jumped at a chance to stock up.

The first thing we did was make a huge batch of salsa then the following night we used our food processor to chop up all remaining onions (we used a couple in the salsa) and put them into snack size zip top baggies for storing in the freezer.

And the best part, we only spent about $15 for all of it.

What is the best deal on produce you’ve found lately?

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• 5 Areas Of Your Life That Can Benefit From Vinegar
• Thanks Penguin Group!
• As Excited As A WWE Fan Can Be

Sunday night, we went to see a local WWE event.  It was originally sheduled as a RAW house show but changed to a Supershow when the a Smackdown event was cancelled due to weather issues.

Battle Royal (Participants JTG, Skip “Ryback” Sheffield, Epico, Primo, Drew McIntyre, Santino Marella, Sheamus, Kofi Kingston, David Otunga, Mason Ryan, R-Truth and Alex Riley)
Battle Royal Winner vs. Cody Rhodes (Intercontinental Championship match)
Jack Swagger vs. R Truth
Kelly Kelly and Eve vs Beth Phoenix and Natalya Hart (special guest referrer Brie Bella)
Ted DiBiase Jr. vs. Wade Barrett
Big Show vs. Daniel Bryan (Heavyweight Championship match)
John Cena vs. Kane
CM Punk vs. The Miz (WWE Championship match)

The battle royal was finished fairly quick.  Sheamus came out the victor after eliminating David Otunga.

Shortly after Sheamus was announced as the winner Cody Rhodes music hit and he came out to start the Intercontinental Championship match.

Sheamus was disqualified for not releasing Cody when Cody was caught in the ropes.

Jack Swagger came out with Vickie Guerrero.  They challenged anyone to come out and fight Swagger.  R-Truth came out and ended up being Swagger but Otunga came ringside to declare it a non sanctioned match and that Swagger was still champion.

The next match was a divas bout with special referee Brie Bella between Beth Phoenix and Natalya against Kelly Kelly and Eve.  This was a quick match and Kelly Kelly pinned Natalya for the win.

Wade Barrett came out on how he destroyed Randy Orton in December and he has been out of action since.  Ted DiBiase came out and just stood at the ramp when Randy Orton’s music hit.  Barrett. Kofi, Primo, Epico, JTG and Santino came down to the ring to try to separate Orton and Barrett.  Everyone received a RKO except Santino.

Big Show took on Daniel Bryan for the World Heavyweight Championship.  Big Show won via disqualification but the title belt can only transfer upon a pin fall or submission so Daniel Bryan retains the World Heavyweight Championship.

Kane and Cena were up next.  This was a decent match surprisingly.  Kane dominated the entire match and ended up being disqualified when Kane hit Cena with a steel chair.  The crowd was into this match and was pretty evenly split with two chants.  “Let’s Go Cena” and “Cena Sucks”.  Kane almost left the stage area but returned to beat on Cena some more when Cena hit him with the Attitude Adjustment.  Kane carried Cena well throughout the match.

The main event was next between The Miz and CM Punk.  The crowd was really for Punk on this one.  Even Little T who used to be a Miz fan turned against him and was for Punk.  Punk hit Miz with the GTS for the pinfall.  Punk stayed ringside signing autographs for over 20 minutes after the show.

Tim was the cameraman, as usual, for the family. You can see more of our photos over on our Google+ page. Why not +1 our page while your over there?

You might also like:

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• Puppies, Kids, and Snow Days
• 5 Areas Of Your Life That Can Benefit From Vinegar
• Thanks Penguin Group!

Tim, the boys and I are somewhere and it’s your turn to guess where?

Here are a few hints.

Leave a comment and tell us where you think we are?

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• We Bought Over 60 Pounds of Produce
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• 5 Areas Of Your Life That Can Benefit From Vinegar
• Thanks Penguin Group!
• As Excited As A WWE Fan Can Be

Last year we picked health for our word of the year. We ate out less. We made food from scratch. We used local ingredients with some coming directly from our own landlords farm. We attempted to grow our own food. We have become accustom to the slow moving country life.

And while health is still something we will continue to work toward our entire life, I thought we’d pick a new word this year. After thinking about things that we have in store this year, I choose…

Expand

ex·pand [ik-?spand] -verb
transitive verb
1: to open up : unfold
2: to increase the extent, number, volume, or scope of : enlarge
3a: to express at length or in greater detail
b : to write out in full
c : to subject to mathematical expansion

intransitive verb
1: to open out : spread
2: to increase in extent, number, volume, or scope
3: to speak or write fully or in detail
4: to feel generous or optimistic

Since we’re eating healthier, we probably won’t be expanding out waistlines. But we will focus on expanding our blog, expanding our experiences, expanding our knowledge and expanding our world.

So, what is your word of the year? Or if you make resolutions, what ones did you make this year?

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• Thanks Penguin Group!

Snow: Atmospheric water vapor frozen into ice crystals and falling in light white flakes or lying on the ground as a white layer.

Snow. What’s snow? That was a common joke I made when people from other places said it was snowing where they lived. We rarely saw snow unless we went to the mountains. It only snowed twice since I can remember where it actually stuck to the ground.

Then we moved one state over. Now I’ve seen more snow in one year than in my entire lifetime prior to the move.

This was at the beginning of the snow and eventually, the ground was pure white. Well until the three dogs and two kids went outside and played. And played. And made snow angels. And played until they were frozen. They came inside and warmed up with some hot cocoa in front of the fireplace heater.

I can certainly say I am not a fan of snow. I hope this is the only time we’ll see snow this holiday because I’m not a fan of driving in the white stuff. I don’t even like to drive when it rains.

But someone keeps standing at the window like this…

telling me she NEEDS to go play. The other two dogs would prefer to remain inside but the puppy wants outside constantly. It must be a kid thing!

Do you like snow?

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This year we decided to skip the turkey and bake a ham. I know it’s not a typical Thanksgiving meal but who said we can’t be a little different once in a while. You might remember a few years ago when we had a Hawaiian themed Christmas. It was fantastic!

As for the ham, we typically get a spiral sliced ham and bake it according to the directions. We use the included glaze packet in the last half hour or so.

Other items that will grace our table this year are:

• Red Hot Sweet Potatoes (recipe to follow tomorrow)
• Au gratin potaotes (from a box as I haven’t mastered these by scratch yet)
• Deviled Eggs
• King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls
• Pumpkin pie with whipped cream
• Apple pie with whipped cream
• Pumpkin ice cream
• Cookie dough ice cream

We’ll have lots of ham leftover so we’ll be having breakfast for dinner the next night and serve fried ham with eggs and toast.

But don’t worry, we have turkey on our menu plan the following week when we’ll put doing open-faced hot turkey sandwiches and mashed potatoes – all smothered in a creamy turkey gravy.

What did you eat this Thanksgiving? Do you have a favorite dish to make for Thanksgiving?

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• Thanks Penguin Group!

We have recently started using Vinegar around the house. Not exactly something new but it works great and is cheap.

Here are a few of our favorite uses :

1. Plants & Flowers
1. Freshen cut flowers. Add 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1 teaspoon sugar for each quart of water.
2. Prolong the life of flowers in a vase. Add two tablespoons of vinegar plus three tablespoons of sugar per quart of warm water. Stems should be in three to four inches of water.
3. Add one cup of vinegar for every four cups of water as your water source for your Christmas Tree.
2. Animal Problems
1. Eliminate animal urine stains from carpet. Blot up urine with a soft cloth, flush several times with lukewarm water, then apply a mixture of equal parts vinegar and cool water. Blot up, rinse, and let dry.
2. Remove skunk odor from a dog. Rub fur with full strength vinegar; rinse.
3. Health Issues
1. Soothe a bee or jellyfish sting. Dot or douse the irritated area with vinegar and relieve itching.
2. Relieve itching by using a cotton ball to dab mosquito and other bug bites with Vinegar straight from the bottle.
3. Relieve sunburn by lightly rubbing it with vinegar. You may have to reapply.
4. Cure for colds. Mix one-quarter cup Apple Cider Vinegar with one-quarter cup honey. Take one tablespoon six to eight times daily.
5. Treat sinus infections and chest colds. Add 1/4 cup or more vinegar to the vaporizer.
4. Laundry & Stains
1. Freshen up the washing machine. Clean the hoses and unclog soap scum. Once a month pour one cup of vinegar into the washing machine and run the machine through a normal cycle, without clothes.
2. Remove tough stains. Gently rub on fruit, jam, mustard, coffee, tea. Then wash as usual.
3. Get smoke smell out of clothes by adding a cup of vinegar to a bath tub of hot water. Hang clothes above the steam.
4. Remove perspiration stains from clothes by applying one part vinegar to four parts water, then rinse.
5. Deodorant and anti-perspirants stains may be removed from clothing by lightly rubbing with distilled vinegar and laundering as usual.
5. Kitchen
1. Marinating meat in vinegar kills bacteria and tenderizes the meat. Use one-quarter cup vinegar for a two to three pound roast, marinate overnight with your normal spices and sauces then cook without draining or rinsing the meat.
2. Clean the dishwasher by running a cup of vinegar through the whole cycle once a month to reduce soap build up on the inner mechanisms and on glassware.
3. Deodorize the kitchen drain. Pour a cup down the drain once a week. Let stand 30 minutes and then flush with cold water.
4. Clean the microwave by boiling a solution of 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1 cup of water in the microwave. Will loosen splattered on food and deodorize.
5. Make buttermilk. Add a tablespoon of vinegar to a cup of milk and let it stand 5 minutes to thicken.
6. Replace a lemon by substituting 1/4 teaspoon of vinegar for 1 teaspoon of lemon juice.

What are your favorite uses for vinegar?

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• As Excited As A WWE Fan Can Be

Earlier this month, Little T received a package for winning a WWE reading contest that contained a damaged autographed poster. Tim and I tweeted to the Penguin Group’s twitter account and sent an email to see if we could get a replacement poster. After being bumped up through the chain of command, we were able to connect with someone who could send us a replacement poster. In fact, he sent us two of them and he asked if we’d be interested in reviewing some of their teen and young adult books.

Of course, we couldn’t say no to reviewing books. Our house is always full of books. The boys  love to curl up with books while relaxing in our reading corner. Grandma Deb keeps a book with her at all times. Tim and I have a books and magazines on our desk for those moments when we just need to take a quick break. We have two bookcases overflowing with the boys books, two bookcases for our leisure read books, and two bookcases filled with our work related books.

Did you know that Penguin Group participates in We Give Books, a new digital initiative that enables anyone with access to the Internet to put books in the hands of children who don’t have them, simply by reading online. Our boys have already read a handful of books and are always thrilled when they finish a book online because they know another kid out there will get a book, too.

You might also like:

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A package was left by our doorstep the other day. That in and of itself is not a big deal. We get packages on a regular basis because we order a lot of stuff online. But this package was for Little T. It was big and flat. We carefully opened it wondering what had arrived for him.

He was thrilled when he realized it was 3 WWE books and two pieces of paper. The first paper was a letter from Penguin books congratulating Little T on being one of five runner ups in their WWE book contest. The second paper was not a paper but a WWE poster.

And it was autographed.

By WWE diva Eve

And WWE superstar Hornswoggle

And WWE superstar Kofi Kingston

And, to Little T’s pure excitement, Big Show.

But as we took the poster out of the package, it tore because it had managed to catch itself on the tape that was used to close the package up. I might be able to repair it but I’m going to contact Penguin to see if it can be replaced. And I’ll have to search for a frame for him to put the autographed poster up in his room.

He’s as happy as any WWE fan can be. Especially since Kofi and Big Show autographed the poster. The only superstar autograph that would have been more exciting for him would be John Cena.

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Today’s Social Moms Writing Prompt: What are the funniest things your kids have gotten away with?

Let’s see…Drama King occassionally gets away with something because he is a super sweet talker. He’s convinced all of us that he just HAS to have new art supplies even if we have something similar at home.

But I’d have to say the biggest thing the boys get away with all the time is…

Drama King and Little T took out every condiment in our fridge along with a few other essential snack worthy items from the pantry to make a snack.

Why? They were hungry.

Why? They thought a sandwich sounded good.

WHY? They wanted something “different.”

Well, I cannot argue with that. I sometimes stare at the fridge and just want something “different’ to appear. They took the initiative to make that “different” item happen. They each made their own “different” item and ate it happily before heading off to bed that night.

Yes, I let them.

Yes, they made a mess.

Yes, they helped clean up the mess before eating.

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• Our Reading Corner

While it didn’t originally start out with the intent to be a reading corner, it has graciously converted into a coveted spot to read. The corner at first appeared to be wasted space. The back door opens to create a small area that is directly across from the hallway to the front door.

See the fans and miscellaneous stuff behind the door? That’s the corner. Not a lot of space so we thought we’d just put some bookcases and make it the DVD corner. We quickly filled two bookcases with our DVD collection but there was still wasted space in the corner. We couldn’t fit the oversized chair anywhere in the living room that wasn’t in the way so we tucked it into this corner. Then, I set a lamp right in that walkway so I’d remember to tuck it away in the closet straight ahead. That’s when the lamp migrated – on its own I think – into the corner, behind the chair and next to the bookcases. Now, it’s the reading corner. And it gets used. A lot.

It provides a seat for Uncle Robbie when he comes for a visit.

Sometimes by dogs napping.

Sometimes by a big brother reading to his little brother.

{ignore the minor nose picking – his nose was bothering him that evening} And before you think Drama King ate a booger, he licked his fingers to turn the page. Not to eat a booger as I thought the first time I watched it.

And maybe someday by a mom or grandma, if they ever get a chance to grab a moment in the chair.

Don’t forget to check out our Treasure Chest Giveaway where you can enter to win some great prizes.

You might also like:

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Forget to Start Dinner

Early this morning, Tim and Drama King headed out on a road trip. Not any road trip. THE road trip Drama King has been talking about for weeks. THE road trip where just him and Tim hit the open road bound for the unknown. Well, really they knew where they were going but doesn’t unknown just sound like fun.

Back to the story…Last night I helped Drama King pack his precious cargo – you know those I can’t live without items like toys and coloring supplies – and set his portable DVD player and PSP to charge overnight. This morning went smoothly thanks to the night before preparation session. Tim got himself ready. Drama King did the same. I packed their drink cooler and loaded the van with last minute items.

Then off they went. And back to bed did I. It was WAY too early for this night owl to be up and moving. Plus Little T was still snoozing. That’s how it started.

I had a list of things I needed to accomplish and a few things that I wanted to get done. I watered the garden, gave an impromptu Photoshop lesson to Little T, cleaned up after the puppy, brushed Cierra, watched TV while eating lunch with Little T, setup our new portable dishwasher, did three loads of dishes – well the last one is still going – and what I forgot about dinner?

Darn it! A couple hours before dinner I realized that I completely spaced putting dinner in the slow cooker. I don’t have anything planned for a small meal backup.

Note to self: Prepare a few small meal backup plans.

My mind began racing. What could I throw together to feed me, my mom (who resides with us), and Little T. Nothing. I couldn’t come up with a single small meal dish at all. Then come the thought of having my mom pick up dinner on the way home. I guess that could work. The closest places are bound to be close. Phone calls confirmed that thought. So I expanded outwards towards her work along the interstate. Wouldn’t you know that not a single place was open.

So, what’s a mom to do? We ran for the border. That’s right my mom stopped at Taco Bell on her way home from work.

Lesson learned. Don’t forget to start dinner when you live farther than 10 minutes from any late night dining.

Or you end up with a soggy Mexican pizza like I did.

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I’ve blogged various award shows for a while now over at Your Celeb Source.

If you’re watching the Billboard Music Awards, come join me and share your opinions of the show.

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I’m in a writer’s funk lately. I’ve got some other projects on my plate and just can’t seem to come up with anything to talk about on here. Does that happen to you?

hmmm…

I’ve been busy puppy proofing our life, cleaning up little accidents, and generally being a puppy mom. We narrowed names for our newest little puppy and think we’ve settled on Starlet. But, no guarantees because I’m not liking the way it flows off the tongue. It sounds a lot like Scarlett. What do you guys think?

We finally broke down and became Netflix users. I never thought we’d do that but Swagbucks had a great deal to earn Swagbucks and get a free trial to Netflix. One of the movies we watched was Easy A and I’m working on getting a review up about it. Tim has really gotten into using Swagbucks and Ebates lately. Would you like me to review those services for you?

I, also, had an idea about running a special promotion / giveaway / event to celebrate the boys’ birthdays and our blog anniversary but haven’t had any commitments. Maybe I’ll table it for next year and begin searching after Easter next year. I don’t know. If you’d like to discuss the promotion, just use the contact us button at the top and I can send you the details about it.

See a writing funk. And when you toss in more back pain and my fingers and hands randomly going numb, it just becomes a pain in the butt. Well, actually the back but you get the idea. We all have dentist and doctors appointments over the next few months to get established with local doctors. Yes, we’ve lived here over six months and haven’t gotten established with new doctors. I just miss the boys’ pediatrician and really don’t want to change. But, we cannot drive back every time something happens so we’ll need to find great ones here.

Updates on the boys… Little T is teaching himself to read. We tried a few methods but nothing seemed to click for him. In the last few months, he’s reading things I never knew he could. He’s read entire level 1 reading books with no problem. He’s starting to pick up level 2. Drama King, on the other hand, doesn’t want to learn to read. He knows more than he thinks he does but he just gets discouraged because his vocabulary is higher than his reading level. So when he reads books, the words, in his mind, are baby words. Coming from the child who rarely used the word huge or large to describe a big item. Elephants are enormous, the sky – infinite, and whales – humongous. He’ll get there but for now, we just continue to promote reading in various ways. I’ve tried to convince Tim that getting a Kindle would be a great reading tool. I’ve heard that a lot of books can be read to you so this would be a vital leaning tool.

Tim didn’t buy my reasoning either. I couldn’t even convince myself to spend that amount on a Kindle, yet. Maybe I could win one somewhere. Or someone has one that they’re not using and would like to donate it to Drama King and I? No… One can dream, right?

Enjoy your Friday the 13th, which just so happens to be one of my favorite days. Superstition and my favorite number, what a combination. What’s the strangest thing you’ve seen or heard about Friday the 13th?

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I know I’ll have trouble posting everyday so I’m going to do weekly sum up posts for this challenge. If you want to follow along or join in on the challenge, pick up your copy of the book on Amazon.

Day 1
Why Clean? For lack of a better reason, it has to be done. No one wants to walk on sticky floors or step on that dreaded Lego in the middle of the night. I’d also like to be able to walk into a room; not stumble through a mass of junk.

Mary Challenge
Martha Challenge

Day 2
After reading through the Martha challenges as part of Day 1 and subsequently catching glimpses of the Mary challenges, I have the concern that I might not get much out of this book but I’m going to keep trying. I fear I won’t have the motivation with this book to keep going.

Mary Challenge – No idea how to bring life to my “domain”.
Martha Challenge

Day 3
The Mary challenges are still eating at me because I just don’t understand what they have to do with maintaining a house. I asked the Mary question to my 6 and 7 year old and they just stared at me like I was an alien who just beamed down from a spaceship. I didn’t even attempt to ask Tim as he might think I’ve gone bananas.

Mary Challenge
Martha Challenge

Day 4
Mary challenge again is a waste of my time. I don’t have any friends in the area because we just moved here a few months ago. Although, I wouldn’t have been able to invite any friends over midweek before we moved either. I’m really starting to dread finishing this book.

Mary Challenge
Martha Challenge

Day 5
I’m throwing in the towel. This book/method is not for me. I think I need to find a cleaning challenge that doesn’t have a Mary challenge. At least I have started working in the kitchen. And I skimmed through Day 6 and the six list. I love that idea. I’ll continue to skim through the book and pick out things that will work for our family but I know I will not be able to finish the book with the some of the Mary challenges getting under my skin.

Mary Challenge
Martha Challenge

You might also like:

• We Bought Over 60 Pounds of Produce
• Guess Where We Are?
• Puppies, Kids, and Snow Days
• 5 Areas Of Your Life That Can Benefit From Vinegar
• Thanks Penguin Group!