Family Pizza Night

Family Pizza Making is Mmmmmmm Good

The only problem I have with family pizza making is that it seems kinda pricey. 

I know. I am super cheap.

But by the time you get all the ingredients, you've spent more than take out.

Any ideas for how to get the pizza cost down?

One thing that will help is that garden Chuck and Charley have planned. 

I think I'll get in on it this year too.

Something about that hard, red, Alabama earth and that scorching blazing sun that kept me out of the loop of gardening in previous years. We've got good, rich, soil in Virginia. 

Good soil makes gardening cheaper. 

Hauling in two truckloads of dirt kinda shoots the price of vegetables up.

Got big CANNING plans.

Yup. 

All I need is someone's wing. 

Any sweet old ladies out there willing to take me in for canning training? 

Seriously.

I. want. to. come. over.

I can offer you lots of chatter and photographs of you in action for the grandkids.

Call me. 

I'll leave the kid with the knife at home. 

I Get A Peaceful Easy Feeling

Before You Throw it Out.....

Mix It Up

We all know the way to avoid ruined food is to just to eat it before the expiration date passes right? But that doesn’t mean that the food in our pantry doesn’t occasionally go bad. And most of the food that goes bad doesn’t also grow mold or become unfit for handling. 

I hate to waste, so I developed a method for making the most of food past its prime.

I save good food gone bad. 

-Opened and forgotten cracker packs

-Halloween candy

-Cereal

-Drink Mixes

-Cherry Flavored Applesauce: I mean, GROSS, right? 

-Those pink or blue sweetener packets that you're afraid to use. 

-Spices!.....Remember, McCormick recently launched a campaign to encourage customers to toss out their spices that are 15 YEARS OLD!!! Did you find a spice relic in your cabinet? You can’t take them with you when you go. Let the kids use them or, loose them. 

-Salt: When I am feeling overly protective with my salt shaker, I just remind myself that salt is cheaper than any of the toys on the shelf at Wal-Mart. 

-In this case (above).... Vegetables!

Then I give the kid a water bottle and a bowl.

Charley can keep busy "cooking" for an hour or more. 

She uses the water to marinate those crackers and cereal bits to perfection. 

I pull out a variety of utensils and she finds a good use for them all. 

And bonus! She learns all about what's inside those vegetables!

I mean, I don't think I knew what was inside a bell pepper until last year. 

I know, I am a special case...I only started eating my vegetables in recent years. 

I know.

She looks like she's about to loose a digit to the butter knife but it was all under control. 

She mixes all the goods together to form a culinary masterpiece that they will be proud to feed...well, the dog.

Because Mama ain’t touchin’ it. 

Family Date Night

CHICKALA! 

Despite my attempt to cloak the correct pronunciation in secrecy, 

Charley has learned to say Chick-FIL-a correctly. 

Dang schooling, or older children, or commercials.....WHATEVER. 

Dang you. 

I only had just SO many cute toddler-ish things left, and you STRIPPED one away. 

It will forever be Chickala to me. 

Obviously, I know I didn't invent family Chickala night. 

I just finally recognized that for my family, 

every other week Chickala dates would be a treat. 

You see, here in Mathews, our fast food options are limited to Hardees and Subway...and anybody who's been to Mathews Hardees knows that calling it FAST food is a stretch.....Every. single. drive. thru. event... 

"Ummm, could you please pull up and we will bring your food out to you."

I digress. 

The POINT is, they have no playgrounds at Hardees or Subway. 

Enter Chickala. 

Our Wal-mart, Lowes, Home Depot, Applebees, and Chickala live in a town about 30 minutes from here. This is our errand town. Meaning we have no other purpose there other than to run errands. Meaning there ain't NO way I am giving in when Charley begs to go in and play at Chickala in the midst of a excruciatingly long Wal-mart/Lowes/Oil Change trip. Not gonna do it. 

So finally, I thought to myself, "Hey man, you know what would be fun to do with the family during the week? Make a special trip to CHICKALA of course!" This is one simple thing the kid clearly wants. And if you've got kids then you know it can be difficult to find a way the whole family can enjoy themselves at the same time, in the same room. I mean, could there BE a more MIND numbing GAME than Candyland? 

Oh wait, Chutes and Ladders, Chutes and Ladders. 

And how COME nobody told me Monday's are FAMILY nights at Chickala?? 

Kids eat free. Your kid is GUARANTEED other kids to play with in that crazy fun (sound proof) play area. There is a cow there, and crafts, and balloons, an incredibly long line, and chaos, and everything!  Can't. beat. it. 

Lion on the Loose

No. 

There was no way I could narrow these photos down. 

(Check out My Friend's eyes.) 

Hideout

There was one other space in Charley's room that I failed 

to mention when showing you Charley's bedroom makeover. 

Beyond this closet door is a little girl's dream space....

This is one of the rooms that sold the house! 

I envisioned all of her stuffed animals in here, out of the way. 

To give them a resting place, I used a curtain, a small blanket, and a pashmina. 

This is the space where Charley gets to hang her special mementos. 

This is the space where she gets to draw on the walls!!

Hang her school projects...

And pictures she's taken...

Her dress up clothes are usually carpeting the floor 

with a layer of stuffed animals on top, but it's ok.

It's her space.

It's the Little Things

I remember my Mama leaving me notes in my lunch.

It's not something she did all the time, but when she did, it meant something. 

It made me feel special. 

But, Charley isn't reading completely on her own just yet, so I have to keep it simple...

or else she gets her teacher all involved....and that's just embarrassing. 

I cut and packed her apple "Aussie" style. Check out how by clicking here.

Aussie apples are easier to eat for little ones and they don't yellow as fast. 

Charley wasn't that impressed really. 

Also she has recently annouced that she doesn't care for SANDWICHES anymore.

Sandwiches ya'll.

How do you a pack a lunch without a sandwich?

Our First Virginia Snow

 

Back in Alaska I told Charley there would

come a day when she longed to see the snow again.

 

She didn't believe me.

 

But when the light dusting we got last week
  melted away by noon, she mourned its loss. 

We're hoping before the winter's over,
 we'll get enough so that we can build a good, clean snowman.

Projects with the Kid

Getting sucked into Pinterest for lengthy periods makes me feel bad about myself.

But if I use Pinterest as inspiration for actual projects, then that makes me feel good and productive.

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This little illustration was the spark Charley needed to rekindle her love of drawing.

After she finished this little bird she asked me to google other animals. She sat with her paper and pencil and did her best to draw what she saw on the screen.

We learned that she really likes to draw realistic animals (WOLVES, WOLVES, WOLVES)  and she doesn't believe she needs the steps numbered out for her. She's drawing very well!

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We also tried this simple but interesting optical illusion I found on Pinterest. 

  

                            THEIRS                                              OURS

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And for Valentine's Day we shaped our own hearts from wire and wrapped them with yarn. It was QUITE time consuming and had little payoff.  Charley quickly tired of the project but insisted we finish...which meant I ended up doing the work myself. And...as it turns out, I am really not that into wrapping wire with yarn.
Not in the least.

 

                                THEIRS                                            OURS

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This hearts on a string project was fun though. 

 

                               THEIRS                                               OURS

 We took an old book and cut hearts from the pages. 

Charley cut almost as many as I did. 

Then I sewed them together. 

I love sewing paper.

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For extra incentive for project-follow-through,
I sometimes leave the idea tabs open on my computer.
I won't allow myself to close them until I attempt the project.
Of course I am very selective about what I tackle.
How do you follow through? 

A School Party

This year I was inspired by an etsy seller...

HOMEMADE

The faces she makes crack me up. 

 

TO THE PARTY

I absolutely love to be able to join Charley for her little class parties. 

And she loves having me there....makes me feel so special. 

Oh musical chairs! Almost as anxiety inducing as dodge ball. For me. 

And then there's that happy, happy 

moment when a girl gets to dig into her valentine's. 

What IS it about Valentine's? 

They sure do make a girl feel special. 

Show Your Valentine Some Love: Idea 5

I've got one more small gesture of Valentine's love to share. 

Instead of carving our names into the tree 

(something that gave me awful visions of jabbing a knife into my face), 

I was able to tap them into the soft truck with a hammer and chisel.

I have to say, as sweet as it looks, it was a pretty anti-climatic kind of gift.

I had grand plans to lead Chuck down a candlelit pathway, 

but earlier in the day he stumbled during a jog and sprained his ankle. 

I knew he wouldn't be into hanging out in the cold, on a blanket, on the ground.

Maybe this spring we'll have a romantic picnic out there.