Growing up is more hills and valleys than a climb up Mt. Everest

I always thought the maturing of youngsters into teens would be inevitable march forward and onward from the days where a little one will hold your hand ---and fast forward to the door slamming teen. 

Reality has proven to be different, yesterday the boys were being pre-teens, wanting to stay up late and play video games.  Oh the end is near, pimples are minutes away.

This morning, all three kids packed their backpacks and grabbed wooden swords to go outside and have an adventure in the woods.

Childhood isn't a straight climb after all, thank goodness.

Can you see that Patrick's hand is green? Kid thought he'd wash his hands and it would wash right off. --Not so much.

They are ridiculously excited for some egg hunting tomorrow.  I didn't have much cash for Baskets or Eggs, so I made 'Easter Coupons'.  Today I hyped the exciting and awesome Easter Coupons to the kiddos.

Hey Kids, instead of hunting for eggs filled with boring candy, we are going to have eggs filled with special prize tickets!  You can each get 4 eggs.  And one of them is filled with, wait for it, a "get out of trouble free pass!"

They started jumping up and down with excitement.  Patrick asked: "Are there three of those?" 
No, just one.  Bryce said: "I totally have to get that one, I'm the best egg finder."  Then Anna chimmed in, "No, no you're not."

And so it went.

 Easter Pics from 2009.

It's just as well

It's just as well that the weather is still stuck on January auto repeat , I really don't have any cute springy clothes to wear.

I don't have any extra funds to purchase springy clothes either and furthermore this cold weather has me awfully afraid to make the switch to lightweight clothes.

Hope springs eternal and hopefully you can see the buds ready to burst into life on this tree.

Okay I'm back

Pretty nice that the old internet keeps my blog up even though I haven't written in ages and ages. How have you been?  When we last spoke, I did not have my current second job.  When we last spoke I was running the coffeeshop.

Then I found a work from home position taking customer service calls in the evening.  Coffee in the AM, Phone calls in the PM = very little time for the family, and let time for the blog.

Not that I didn't have gobs of blogging ideas, I just managed to avoid finding the time to write them down. That's my story and excuses.

Fast forward to now, it's nearly spring and I'm ready to rebalance my life a bit.  Tastefully Simple, heretofore, virtually unknown in the Hayesville NC area is starting to pick up as I talk with people and get to know them enough that they'll let me into their homes to do a taste-testing party.

Of course, once they try the products, they fall in love! Plus we have a lovely batch of new products that I have been playing with this month.

At present I have two new favorite things. 
1. The Borgias on Showtime, my new favorite show. It stars Jeremy Irons as the worst Pope ever and it is based very loosely on historic record.

And 2. Dill Pickle Dip

Oh so good.  Even young Patrick a pickle purist can't resist it.

RECIPE: BEST TUNA MELT EVER
Take one packet mix it with 1 cup light mayo and 1 cup sour cream.  Then divide it into 2 seperate bowls. Use one bowl as a veggie dip.
 Take the other cup and add 2 cans of tuna, 1 cup diced celery and 1/2 a cup of sliced scallions.
 Mix and put in to pita halves (should make 4-6 halves)
 Top the dill pickle tuna salad with a slice of cheese and pop in an oven at 350 for about 10 minutes .

Enjoy the best Tuna Melt you have ever had.

Forgot to share contest to win a years supply of groceries! Crock-Pot® Seasoning Mixes

I forgot to share a link in my slow cooker stew post that could be your ticket to a years supply of groceries. How nice would that be, groceries are such a major part of our household bills, ah definitely right after mortgage or rent!
Here is the link to enter.  And excited slow cooker fact: did you know you can make corn on the cob in the Crock-Pot?  Neither did I!  But I now know how and I'm going to share it with you:

Wrap 4 ears of shucked corn individually in fiol. Place in a 4 quart Crock-Pot cover and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4!

Crock-Pot® Seasoning Mixes: Thx Crock-Pot® 4 my free #CrockPotMixes - Enter for a chance to win a years supply of groceries http://on.fb.me/WKSHgP *Thanks again to Smiley 360 for the free sample of the Crock-Pot seasoning!

Enter the contest! I hope you win!

Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go!  Are you traveling to your turkey? Or are the turkeys traveling to you?

 

The time has arrived...

Can you even believe that Thankgiving is next week?  Me either, but it is!  Now I love a good thankgiving feast almost as much as I love Christmas Vacation. 


In fact, right now I have a turkey breast slathered in Roasted Garlic Infused Oil and Rustic Herb Seasoning slow cooking away for my Taste-Test Tuesday at the Cafe.  This turkey is going to be nice and juicy unlike poor Catherine's overdone bird. 

Such fun to cook when you have time during the holiday season. The crock pot really can be the busy cook's bff.  Because I am the proud owner of a real Crock Pot, thanks to my mom who picked up this bad boy at a rummage sale for me, I was invited to participate in a Smiley 360 mission for Crock Pot's new seasoning mixes. 

Saturday I tried out the Beef Stew Slow Cooker Mix. Here is what I did:
1. 2 lbs chuck roast cut into cubes.
2. 5 cups veggies of my choice chopped.  I did a couple of cups of portabella mushrooms, cup of celery, potatoes and onion.
3. 1 1/3 cups water, wisk in the dry mix and pour over the veggies and meat in the crock pot.  Then cook on low for 8 hours.

I did this overnight, so Tom woke up to enjoy some fresh hearty stew. 

Reviews:
Me=Super easy.
Tom- he would have liked more flavor
Kids-they loved the meat and the potatoes.
Yes I know adding the mushrooms was going out on a bit of a limb...but they were on clearance and I like mushrooms in a beef stew!

Overall, definitely worth doing again!
Disclosure: I rec'd a free packet of the stew mix to try out and agreed to blog about how we used it. All my opinions are my own!

Good luck Anna!

Anna is running for 3rd Grade Class President and the election is tomorrow. She says it's so scary because you may get picked or someone else may get picked. So wish her luck!

Recently Anna wrote a story about a dragon:

"This is a fire dragon. It would be my guardian. I would love it with all my heart. It would drive me to school every day. It would make my lunch everyday. If anyone would try to hurt me, she would hurt them. She would lay eggs and I would help her take care of them.

It would be the best dragon in the world. Her name is Anabell. She is very big. She is very smart. She has a Job as a nurse for dragons while I'm at school.
Then when my Mom or Dad comes home she would hide and I would be sleeping.

#Wordless Wednesday Punkin chunkin

This weekend Anna wanted to pose with the Punkin Chunkin Machines. Here are the pics!

Who says there are many many great opportunities out there?

(sarcasm alert ahead)

I don't know why people say they can't find a job, why I get emails ALL the time with great offers!  They find my info online at monster.com and they contact me with such great jobs!  It's so great that these wonderful legitimate opportunities are out there for people. So many people have been looking for months and months to find a job, it's great that wonderful employers are offering quality work.

Look at this great offer a minimum of $700 per week!  And I get excited when I get a bonus check from Tastefully Simple for $630 for a whole month! Clearly I need to get on board and snag this position.

Dear Customer,

Join us and be part of a growing family of nearly 100,000 people with their eyes on the future and we are glad to announce our decision to fill the position of a Microsoft Agent. Please note that the job is not office-based, which means applicants can work at home. The job is both part- and full-time. In order to be eligible for the said vacancy, have a continuous and unlimited access to the Internet. EARN the minimum of $700 per week.

Apply Now

Thank you for being a valued Microsoft Agent.

Sincerely,

Trail Mix settles on a Halloween Costume

Anna wants to be Medusa for Halloween! I love it! Tthis costume choice was all her idea and so much better than a lame old super inappropriate type costume such as Target or Walmart has lining their shelves. Holy run on sentence Batman! You know what I mean, though I am sure.

Yesterday we found her dress, at a yard sale. I did not notice it at the time, but on further inspection the dress has built in leggings. Total bonus!

Around here due to the rural nature and mountain roads, Halloween trick or treating is done on the town square and businesses set up booths and hand out candy to the kids. I could set up a booth... But I'm not going to, I want to enjoy this holiday with my almost not kids anymore kids.

Smiley 360 Missions to share with you! Woolite® COMPLETE Friends Mission

I'm a member of Smiley360 which gives social media people such as myself the opportunity to try new products, share our opinions and often share discounts or giveaways! To that end, I offer today a little survey from Woolite Complete and the chance to win $200!

Woolite® COMPLETE Friends Mission: Take a brief survey from Smiley360 and enter 4 a chance to win a $200 gift card! Take the survey at http://smiley360.com/943687.cfm *Please remember the FTC requires you to mention that you received a free sample courtesy of Smiley360 when sharing.

And for fun here is a silly picture of Mr. P and Trail Mix outside Golftopia.