Colton's Night

After several weeks over the road, Barry finally made it home this afternoon and will be able to spend a few days with us.  We had a great time with each other tonight.  Colton was able to do all of his favorite things.  We ordered pizza from Pizza Hut which he loves, he played catch with his daddy and actually caught some balls with the glove his Grandma Sharon bought him, he talked to his sissy and bubba on the phone, he talked to his Grandma Sharon on the phone, he shot several basketballs with his daddy into the basketball goal, then last but not least, he got to lay down by his daddy and watch the Transformers movie.

Colton was a very happy boy tonight and the best part is.................he gets to spend ALL day tomorrow alone with his daddy.  He's gonna have a blast! 

Jillee's Homemade Laundry Detergent

Has anyone else noticed how expensive cleaning items are getting?  The items seem to either be increasing in price or remaining the same in price but decreasing in the size of the product you actually receive.  If you haven't recognized this, you might start keeping an eye on products you normally buy to see if it's happening to items you use.  I normally purchase Tide for our laundry detergent, however, since it seems to keep increasing in price, I thought I would try to look for money saving options on other detergents.

I found this website and saw several money saving options on cleaning supplies I thought I would try.  I made the fast and easy homemade laundry detergent over the weekend and used it Monday night; I thought it worked very well.  It's extremely easy to make and it will save me a lot of money to boot.  I'm a very happy camper!  There are a couple other recipes on her website that I'm going to try.  When I do, I'll let you know how they worked.  Enjoy this one!


Jillee’s Super Fast & Easy Homemade Laundry Detergent
www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com
(recipe amounts are for one gallon and it makes 3 recipes/gallons at a time.)

3 Tablespoons Borax
3 Tablespoons Arm and Hammer Washing Soda
2 Tablespoons Dawn Dish Soap or any other dish soap
3 empty one gallon bottles(I used Hawaiian Punch bottles)
small plastic funnel


Line up (3) one gallon jugs (old Minute Maid O.J. bottles or Hawaiian Punch bottles) and then add the ingredients assembly line style.  Use a small plastic funnel for this and it helps to make it all go much faster and with much fewer spills.

Once all three jugs have the 3 ingredients inside, pour 4 cups of VERY HOT water into each one.  Just use water from the kitchen faucet, it doesn’t need to be boiling. Swirl each bottle until all the ingredients are dissolved in the liquid. Then fill almost to the top with cold water. (Bubbles will overflow out of the bottle a little.)

It is NOT a THICK liquid detergent, it’s quite thin in fact. But it works JUST AS WELL! It has little to no suds (just like the grated soap kind).  BECAUSE it is thin….you'll end up using more of it than the thicker “cooked” version…usually AROUND a cup. Sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more, but that is all right since it's SO inexpensive and easy to make!

Leap Frog Learning DVD set

Colton received a Leap Frog Learning DVD set for his birthday last month from his friends, Catie and Emma.  They really chose an awesome gift, well maybe their mama did........so thanks Donna.

The dvd in this set that has helped him the most is called the Letter Factory.  It has really helped him learn the letters in the alphabet.  He doesn't have every one memorized yet, but he has learned quite a few in just a short month.  I'm sure it won't be long and he'll know all of them.  I am truly impressed with this dvd.  It not only helps your child learn to recognize their letters, but it also helps them learn the sounds they make.  Colton ends up singing along with this dvd every time, he loves it!  I would definitely recommend this dvd for any child that needs to learn the alphabet.

Stuck At Home

Today the City told us there would be limited access to our road because we were finally getting it paved.  Our entire street was really excited for this since we had been promised it for some time and we began to wonder if it was ever going to happen.  Each house received a notice on our doors Last Thursday that there would be limited access to our street on Monday.  Woo-hoo, the day was finally arriving.  The only downside to all of this meant Colton and I were stuck inside the house all day.  That really puts a damper on you especially when you really don't like the feeling of being stuck at home.

Well the trucks arrived around 6:15AM and they left around 3:00PM.  They worked all day until the entire job was finished.  It turned out really nice, so I guess it was OK that Colton and I had a day of just staying at home.  Look at our nice new road.

Surprise Visit

Sunday afternoon, I had mom, Gabe, Ashley and Noah over for lunch after church.  We were sitting around being lazy on the couches and chairs in the living room when all of a sudden the garage door opens and in walks Barry.  We were all shocked, surprised and happy all at the same time.  Colton was absolutely thrilled to see his daddy.  He ran over to him yelling, "My daddy is home, my daddy is home!!"  He jumped in his arms, grabbed his neck and gave him a big old hug and did NOT want to let go.  Barry had to ask Colton if he could give mama(me) a kiss.  He said, "I guess."  Funny boy!

Later that evening, they had to have some boxing time.  Go figure............

Jen's Cheesy Bean Dip

I was craving some bean dip tonight and decided I would make my own concoction with some ingredients I had in my pantry.  I threw the following ingredients into a microwavable bowl and hoped for the best.  It actually turned out really good, I enjoyed the dip.  Hope you enjoy!

Jen's Cheesy Bean Dip

1 (15 oz) can of chili with no beans
1 (16 oz) can of refried beans
1 lb of Velveeta, sliced
1 pkg of taco seasoning

Mix all ingredients in a microwavable bowl.  Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes and take out and stir well.  Place bowl back in the microwave and heat on high for another 3-4 minutes and stir again.  When everything is hot and the Velveeta has melted, you can serve with tortilla chips.  Enjoy.

Our Silver Dollar City Outting

Colton and Noah were such the little troopers on our outing to Silver Dollar City yesterday.  Colton found some new favorite rides and Noah found some new rides altogether.  When we first arrived, Gabe wanted to ride Wildfire.  He convinced Ashley to ride it with him, then he swayed me to ride it with him next.  The boys patiently waited for us to finish the ride.

After that ride, all of our tummies were a little upset, so we took off for something more calm, in which we found the good old standby, a family all time favorite, The American Plunge.  Colton was ready to ride.  So him, Nana and Uncle Gabe all went to get in line while me, Ashley and Noah went to observe in the surveying part where the log they are riding in climbs five stories and the drops them down the big hill of a slide plunging into tons of water where they get drenched.  And did they ever get drenched!  Holy Toledo!

What really impressed me the most was both the boys rode Fire In The Hole and loved it.  Ashley and I were trying to talk the kids out of wanting to ride it because we thought they would be scared to death.  Neither of the boys like the dark and we didn't think they would like the roller coaster drop down parts, so we had their best interest at heart................or so we thought anyways.  Instead, the opposite happened, when the ride ended..............there were NO tears..............there were NO scared little boys.............there were actually two little boys that were ready to ride it again.  Who would've thunk it?

Gabe and Ashley then rode the Powderkeg.  This is another roller coaster that Gabe thought he just had to ride.  It goes from 0 to 53 miles per hour in less than 3 seconds............NO way was I getting on that one, my stomach was still trying to recover from Wildfire.

Finally after the BIG kid Gabe had his fun of riding his roller coasters, we headed off to the little kid rides in Half Dollar Holler.  Colton had to do his infamous run through of the water sprinkling mist under the train tracks while Gabe and Ashley got slushies.

Then we got side-tracked and had to stop and ride the train.

Then we went straight to the Flooded Mine (which used to be Colton's favorite ride).

We finally made it to Half Dollar Holler for the kids.  Noah rode the carousel while Colton climbed and ran around in the treetop fun houses and climbing nets.  Next we were off for more kid rides at the Grand Exposition.  We ran into the Lost River of the Ozarks and I was ready to go.  Colton, me and Ashley decided we'd take our chances at getting soaked.  We had so much fun and Colton got the brunt of the soakedness (don't think that is a real word, but it works).  He was ready to ride it again though, he was such the little trooper.  I was so proud of him, he had a blast.

Next we headed for the Grand Exposition area where Colton and Noah rode the Happy Frogs, Ladybugs and Wings of Wonder.

Then we were off to eat some lunch, we were all starving.  After lunch, we headed to see some shows so our lunch could settle.  We went to the Saloon Show and afterwards Colton wanted some dippin dots and shared with Noah.  How sweet is that, Noah even let Colton feed him his bites.

While they were eating, Gabe somehow convinced Ashley to go back on the Powderkeg........crazy big kids.  While they were riding, we had a little escape artist trying to get out of his stroller.

We then went to the Opera House and listened to the Ball Brothers perform in the indoor air conditioning..........were we ever needing to be cooled off!!!

We then went back to the Grand Exposition area where Colton had to ride the Royal Tea Party (teacup ride) and the Mighty Galleon while Noah had to ride the Racing Regatta and then go back to the Happy Frogs.  Colton threw a crying fit (I know that is so unbelievable) and wanted to ride the teacup ride again, but mama had went over her riding limit, so it was time to stop riding.

We all had a blast though, I'm so glad we went and had our fun-filled day at Silver Dollar City!  We were all able to do something we enjoyed.

Our Monday Morning Purchase

Colton was such a little trooper for me when I was sick Monday night and all day Tuesday.  He entertained himself quite a bit with what we purchased Monday morning at Wal-Mart.

Every time we go into Wal-Mart, Colton wants to go down the toy aisles and look at the toys.  Most usually, we always do.  He's spoiled rotten..............and I, mama, did it to him.  Well Monday was no different, we ran into Wal-Mart to get some milk and bread and next I knew, we were down the toy aisle.  He looked up and down the aisle and suddenly ran into this castle that made noises.  He really liked this, he got it out in the floor and started playing with it.  He did NOT want to leave when it was time to go, he didn't want to put this castle back, he really wanted it.  He was dead set on this.  I didn't get upset, I didn't yell at him, I didn't threaten to whip him if he wouldn't leave, I just reasoned with him.  I told him this castle wasn't cheap, so if he really wanted it, he could get it...................BUT he would have to use some of his Birthday money in order to buy it.  That reasoning went so well..........look what we left Wal-Mart with.

 This was actually a great investment, I will have to say.  He has played with this day and night.  This castle was a life saver for me while I was sick, he really played and played with this.  I'm glad we bought it.  He got out his dinosaurs after a while and had them try to storm the castle, they were the enemy trying to invade his castle.  Needless to say, the dinosaurs did NOT survive.  Colton, the great knight slayed them all!  HA HA HA!

Laughing Cow Grown-Up Grilled Cheese

Who doesn't like grilled cheese?  If anyone is trying to cut down or watch their weight and loves cream cheese, I want to recommend you try out this recipe using laughing cow cheese wedges.  This is low in calories and taste extremely good.  The best part is, you can have this legally while dieting and it's easy to make.  What could be better?  Hope you enjoy!

Laughing Cow Grown-Up Grilled Cheese
recipe from thelaughingcow.com

2 whole wedges of The Laughing Cow® Light French Onion Cheese
2 slices Hearty White Bread such as Italian, Sourdough or Brioche
1 tsp Dijon-style Mustard
2 slices shaved Ham
2 tsp Light Whipped Butter

Spread Dijon-style mustard and Light French Onion cheese on both sides of bread.   Place ham in between the 2 slices, cheese side in, forming a sandwich.  Spread softened butter on both outer sides of sandwich.  Cook sandwich in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat 3 to 4 minutes on each side until golden brown and cheese is melted. Cut in half.

Substitutions: Substitute Light Original Swiss cheese or Light Garlic & Herb cheese wedges.

Our Veggie Tales Evening

Once we got home from church tonight, it turned into a Veggie Tales dvd marathon at our house.  Colton wanted me to bring out all of the Veggie Tales dvd's we have and let him pick which one he wanted to watch.  Well one dvd turned into three dvd's.  We watched "Are You My Neighbor?" three times, part of "God Made Me Special" and "Dave and the Giant Pickle" once.  Colton really enjoyed the movies and I enjoyed watching him laugh in some parts and sing along in other parts.  If you've not heard of the Veggie Tales and you have small children, check them out here.  They are computer animated vegetables that promote Christian moral messages for children.  They also retell biblical stories in their own way while being really cute and funny.  Kids really enjoy watching them and some adults do too, because after all, we are just big kids at heart.  :)

The Hunger Games

I had been hearing good things about this movie that came out called The Hunger Games.  I didn't really think that I cared to see it, but my interest was peaked the more and more I heard about it.  The more I wondered what it was all about, I knew I had to watch it for myself.  This weekend it came out at the Redbox, so I rented it.  I'll have to say, I enjoyed it.  It was really good and now I can't wait until the next part of the movie comes out.  I can't wait to see how it ends though, so I'm going to have to break down and go read this trilogy.

If you know me, you know that I'm not much into reading............at all.  However, when I enjoy something, I learn to make an exception.  This is one of those rare times that I will make that exception and go read me some books.  You might want to do the same, I think you just may enjoy the story.  Happy reading!

Laughing Cow Cheese Mexican Dip

Here's another good recipe for you to try from The Laughing Cow Cheese website.  I'm simply just a sucker for dips, what else can I say?  I thought this was pretty good, so I hope you do too.

Mexican Dip
from thelaughingcow.com

4 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Queso Fresco & Chipotle
1 cup Refried Beans
1 jar Salsa of your choice
1 cup Low Fat Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Spread 4 wedges of The Laughing Cow’s Light Queso Fresco & Chipotle on the bottom of a 9 inch pie plate.  Spread the refried beans over the cheese.  Pour the salsa over the beans and top with low fat shredded cheese.  Microwave for 3-4 minutes until cheese is melted and dish feels warm.  Serve with tortilla chips.  Enjoy!

Laughing Cow Cheese Mini Quesadilla

I love eating Mexican food.  It's my favorite kind of food and as everyone knows, it's not low calorie.  What is good tasting that is low calorie?  Not a lot!  Besides liking Mexican food, I also like cheese, lots and lots of cheese.  As you know, cheese is also not a low calorie food choice.  When I found out about Laughing Cow Cheese I was thrilled, it's low calorie plus it's good.  I thought of this next food combination and decided, why not try it out?  Hope you enjoy my little low-calorie pick me up for all you other Mexican food lovers.

Laughing Cow Cheese Mini Quesadilla

2 Laughing Cow Cheese wedges Light Queso Fresco and Chipotle (or use another flavor you like)
2 soft corn tortillas

Open and spread the cheese on one tortilla.  Place the other tortilla on top.  Microwave 30-45 seconds until it looks like the cheese has melted.  Cut and serve with salsa.  Pretty yummy for a snack.

160 calories for the quesadilla

My Tennessee Souvenir

When mom came back from her vacation in Tennessee, she brought me back a souvenir.  I was really excited to get this new item.  I had been wanting one for a while now, but couldn't really find anything I couldn't live without.  I'm so picky about these items, I have to pretty much be in love with these before I'm willing to make the purchase.  It also seems every time I make this purchase for one of these, I end up spending WAY TOO MUCH money.  Anyways, without further ado, my souvenir I received was a new crossbody purse.

I'm used to having an extra large purse and since this crossbody purse was small in comparison to what I'm used to carrying, I had to come up with a plan to make this work.  Since I have so many items I "think" I need to carry around with me, how in the world was I going to get everything in my new purse?  I can't seem to ever downsize because I can't live without those "needed" items.  However, I thought I came up with a good solution that would work for me.  I leave my crossbody purse in my vehicle at all times and still carry my extra large purse around.  When I need to just run into a store or a restaurant and don't want to haul my big, honking, overweight purse, I grab the most "important" items such as my phone, wallet and keys and throw them into the crossbody purse and I'm good to go.  Problem solved!  I LOVE IT!

Mom's Cheese Roll

Making all these cheese balls made me think of a cheese roll my mom used to make when I was younger that I absolutely loved.  We used to get it around special occasions, church get-togethers or Holidays.  This is one of my all time favorite appetizers.  Hope you enjoy it as much as I always have.

Mom's Cheese Roll

2 lb Velveeta cheese
2 (8 oz.) cream cheese packages
1 C chopped walnuts
2 tsp garlic powder
Pinch of salt
Chili powder

Place Velveeta and cream cheese in large bowl.  They both need to sit out and come to room temperature so they will mix together easily.  Once they are at room temperature, mix them well.  Now add walnuts, garlic powder and salt and mix those well.

Next, place the mixture on a large piece of plastic wrap.  Form the mixture into a long cylinder roll.  Roll it in chili powder.  Wrap in foil and chill until firm.  Serve with crackers and bologna.  Enjoy!

Celebration Cheese Ball

This morning when we went to the grocery store, I picked up a few other items to make this cheese ball I found here.  I decided tonight when Colton and I got home after visiting our good friends, Dan, Angel and Katie, I was going to make this cheese ball recipe.  I fully believe anything made with cream cheese is awesome!  I am a cheese-a-holic in case you haven't noticed.  You can never go wrong when you prepare a recipe containing cheese........any kind of cheese.  This cheese ball turned out pretty good too.  This recipe makes an extra large cheese ball, so you could possibly cut this recipe in half also.  Hope you enjoy.

Celebration Cheese Ball
from southernfood.about.com

6 (3-ounces each) packages cream cheese, or 18 ounces, room temperature
8 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
2 teaspoons grated onion
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons finely minced garlic
Finely chopped pecans

In a mixing bowl, combine cream cheese, Cheddar cheese, onion, Worcestershire sauce, and garlic. Beat with an electric mixer until well blended. Refrigerate until firm then shape into a ball. Roll cheese ball in chopped pecans until well coated. Wrap in plastic and let ripen in refrigerator for at least 24 hours. Take out of refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving. Serve cheese ball with assorted crisp crackers.

Our Unhealthy Breakfast

This morning at breakfast time, Colton was asking me for donuts.  Of course we had none, so that meant a trip to the grocery store was necessary.  Once we arrived, we went to pick out the donuts we wanted.  We looked at all kinds of donuts and finally Colton chose the bag of mini chocolate donuts for himself.  I chose a glazed cinnamon roll and a long john with caramel topping.  I then ran into some peanut butter flavored no bake cookies that I could not pass up.  We were going crazy buying sweets, so I knew it was time to get out of dodge.  When we were checking out, Colton saw a little bag of Cheetos puffs that he had to have. 

After we got our breakfast items, we then decided we needed something to drink.  What better place then Sonic for a cherry sprite and a diet vanilla coke.  YUM!  Not a very healthy breakfast this morning, but you have to live and treat yourself every once in a while.

Blue Cheese Dip II

Today, I decided this was my next recipe to try containing blue cheese that I found.  I'm such a fool for any kind of dip and since I've been on this kick of blue cheese lately, this sounded way too good to pass up.  I'm pleased I didn't, it turned out pretty good and I'm glad I made it.  Just know that it is very strong tasting, so you can only eat so much of a good thing.  I found it here.  I tried this with crackers and tortilla chips both, but it also says it's good with corn chips; you can choose which you prefer.  Enjoy!

Blue Cheese Dip II
from www.allrecipes.com

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
4 green onions, finely chopped
2 tablespoons dried parsley
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
garlic salt to taste

In a medium bowl, mix mayonnaise, sour cream, green onions, dried parsley, blue cheese and garlic salt. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until serving.

Blue Cheese Ball

I have been craving blue cheese lately.  I was looking for recipes containing blue cheese on the internet and found this cheese ball.  It sounded so tempting, I just had to try it.  I found this blue cheese ball recipe here, but I only made half the recipe, because it sounded like a lot.  I thought it turned out really good.  I only have about 1/2 cup left over for tomorrow if that tells you anything.  Hope you enjoy!

Blue Cheese Ball
from www.allrecipes.com

2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/4 cup minced onion
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 cup chopped walnuts

In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese, blue cheese, Cheddar cheese, onion and Worcestershire sauce.  Transfer to a separate bowl that has been lined with plastic wrap.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  The next day, gather the cream cheese mixture into a ball.  Spread the walnuts out on a dinner plate.  Roll the cheese ball in nuts until coated.  Refrigerate or serve immediately.

The Glasses

Colton wanted me to take his picture with his play glasses that I bought him today.  I know kids go through a stage where they want to wear glasses.  Although he's not at that stage yet, he will be one day I'm almost sure of it.  Right now though, he just likes to pretend.  He was trying to impersonate looking like me since I wear glasses.  Very cute!

Newk's

Today, Colton and I tried a new restaurant with our friends, Donna and Mary Margaret, that we all enjoyed.  It's called Newk's.  They offer a variety of choices on their menu: sandwiches(cold and hot), pizza, soup, salads and desserts.  Colton decided he would try the cheese pizza from the Little Newk's Favorites section and I picked the five cheese pizza which was really tasty.  My thin crust pizza was layered with mozzarella, parmesan, provolone, goat, and smoked gouda cheese; it was simply delicious.  You can't go wrong with eating too much cheese.  If you haven't tried this place out yet, you might want to.  It's worth it.

Sore Winner

I can't keep this story to myself any longer, I just have to share it with everyone.

Colton and I decided to play Mario Kart this morning.  We each picked our cars and our drivers and then we chose the race track.  We were having such a good time laughing and hollering;we were really whooping it up (a.k.a. really having a good ole time) racing each other.  I was winning at the very beginning of the race and Colton wasn't very happy about it.  At one point in the race, I thought he was going to throw a fit, even possibly throw the wheel remote down (I know nobody can believe that statement.............HA HA HA) but he didn't, he kept himself in the race.  I was so proud of him.

He ended up getting way ahead of me since I kept crashing and falling off.  We finally come to the end of the race and he wins...............go figure.  Well he starts yelling, screaming with excitement, dancing the "victory dance" around and suddenly he turns to me and says, "Nanny, nanny, boo boo, I beat you!"  I couldn't believe it...............already............only four years old..........he's turned into a little show off...........he's gloating..........holy moly.............how and when did this happen?   Those words that just came out of that sweet little mouth, my little baby boy's mouth, I was shocked.  I had never heard him say that before.............oh how quick they learn things.

Sometimes it's so hard for me to realize just how fast he is growing up...............and truth be known................I DON'T LIKE IT ONE BIT! ! ! !