Miscellany Monday

This weekend we went to visit my husbands aunt. It is so neat to talk to them. I will say that the eggs at the hotel kind of scared me. How did they get them so round? This year we had our first live Christmas tree. Only I do not think it was very alive. This is the floor after we took the tree out today. What a crazy week. Pamela

5 Question Friday

1. If you had to give 1 million dollars to just one person (not your spouse), who would it be and why? Oh this is so hard. It would probably go to a widow of a soldier. 2. What bathroom stall do you typically go to FIRST? Funny you should ask. This morning I told a friend the good thing about losing weight is now I can fit into a regular stall and not use the handicap stall. 3. How do you prefer to shop: In-store or online? In store so I can see it and touch it and know it is what I was looking for. I would NEVER remember to return anything if it means going to the post office. 4. What's the weather like in your neck of the woods? Cold but not crazy cold. Cold enough to keep a fire going but not cold enough for snow. I would love about 10 inches of snow. 5. Do you own a pair of Tom's and what do you think? Overrated, underrated or about right? I do not, I see everyone wearing them and think man that is the shoes I wore in high school that cost $5. Pamela

Feeling Beachie

This week’s statements: 1. without fail, whenever I fly_I have a baby in my arms or one who just learned to crawl so they do not want to be held. _ 2. I used to be_scared to wear anything but a skirt to my ankle and huge shirts, now I want something more flattering. __ 3. When I _sneeze__ I _have to cross my legs and hope nothing else happens. __ 4. My greatest fear is __my husband being sick and not being able to take care of him and the kids at the same time. ____. Pamela

Do you color your hair

I recently started coloring my hair. Well I did not color it, I had it colored. I love it. The only problem is that it is costly to keep it up. The plan was to have it colored every 8 weeks but really I need to do it every 5 weeks or so. I already see the white around my face. So my question is, do you do your have your hair colored or do you color it yourself. I am so scared to even try. Pamela

Fill in the blank Friday

I love fill in the blank Friday. I love getting to know other people. This is one of my favorite blogs ever. This week she was on the Katie Couric show. Can you imagine? The statements are: 1. When I am in a _lonely___ mood I _start thinking about what I can do for others. __ 2. When I ¬¬¬_was little__ I _wanted to be a nun and I was not even Catholic. I love the orderly life style.__ 3. If I could donate a ton of money to a charity it would be_small charities, things like helping foster families give foster children a better life____ because _there is no one publicly saying this child does not even own a Bible or decent pair of shoes.______. 4. I like to visit __real family blogs, not specific like cooking or crafting__blog(s) because _I want to feel like I know the person. I want to feel like I know the person.__ Please know I love cooking and crafting blogs but when I want to feel good I read about real people. Pamela

Would You Breastfeed Someone Else's Baby

I recently babysat for a friend. It is not the first time this precious boy has stayed with me. He is just older now and more talkative. He was so funny. It was time to take a nap and I knew his mom rocked him to sleep. I was looking forward to rocking him to sleep. So I sat down and he started talking about mommy. I reminded him mommy would be back and kept talking. My cat even joined in on the rocking. We must have sat there for 10 minutes talking about mommy with him pulling on my shirt. At first I did not think much about it. That was until my husband came in and pointed at my shirt and I noticed he had not completly pulled my shirt down. I forgot that he calls his moms breast "mommy". I felt so bad that I could not nurse this little blessing to sleep. Poor baby, luckily his mom came back quickly and gave him what he needed. He did fall asleep next to Hope. So my question is would you nurse someone else's baby? I have only been asked once and I said no. I would not just pick up someone else's baby and nurse them. Now if there was a emergancy and I needed to I would without a second thought. I would also donate milk to anyone else who needed it. Pamela

Wordless Wednesday

I have a addiction. I am addicted to rubber gloves. I use only hot water when I wash the dishes and I have to have rubber gloves. A friend sent me a cute fun pair last year but sadly my fingers were too fat for them. I think if I ever find those pretty gloves again I will buy them. Do you wear rubber gloves? Pamela

Pinterest Chicken

I love pinterest. I love all the new recipes. I enjoy trying new things even when they do not turn out. You can find this recipe here. I could live off of baked chicken. So any recipe that calls for baked chicken is good for me. This is a super easy recipe. In a 9*13 pan (or 2 in our case) put chicken breast cut in half down the middle, on one side put potatoes and green beans on the other. You could always change up the veggies. What is your favorite casserole? When you make casseroles do you make just enough for the evening or do you make extra? I try to make extra when I can. Pamela

Miscellany Monday

This weekend we made a quick trip to Kentucky. I am saddened for the reason we had to go but it was so neat to feel the love of friends. While we were there we went to a Christmas party. During the party we played dirty Santa. Of course I got the famous fruit cake. I think everyone was thrilled because they thought this meant after 10 years the fruit cake would be a thing of the past. I cannot promise that. My husbands unit posted pictures from the recent ball. I found this one of us. I love the picture but then realized how bad my tan line was. Maybe next year I will remember to get a spray tan. Pamela

The easiest Cake

I love making cakes, I am not great at decorating them. This cake solves all those problems. Easy and even if the outside does not look great the inside does. Super easy. It is great to take to a party or potluck. I cheated on this cake. I made 3 cakes, can you guess what flavors. Then I baked the cakes. I made butter cream frosting for this cake. I love butter cream frosting. This actually makes 2 cakes Here is my recipe 3 cake mixes baked and cooled Frosting: 1 bag powdered sugar 2 cups frosting 2 Tablespoons meringue powder 1 tsp wilton vanilla tsp wilton almond flavoring pinch of salt 8-10 TBSP milk mix and mix some more. You can find some other cute ideas here, here and here. What easy recipes do you take to parties or pot luck. Pamela

Sugar cookies

I am determined to do more with my kids this year. I am determined to smile more, relax more. I want memories. I knew the kids would love decorating sugar cookies. Only it was the day after Thanksgiving and I did not really want to do anything else that would make a mess in the kitchen. That's when I remembered that I had several boxes of sugar cookie mix in the garage. That made things easy. Then I remembered that our cookie cutters were in the Christmas boxes. I was not going to pull them out. So I pulled out our play dough cutters. They worked just as well. I am reminding myself that things do not have to be perfect. They do not have to have to be detailed to have fun. The kids will not remember that they used pumpkin cookie cutters for Christmas cookies. They will remember the people who decorated the cookies with them. I will be honest, I did not decorate these cookies with them. I made the dough and someone else special helped them that day. So today I am thankful for those special people who do fun things with my children and build memories. Pamela

Christmas ornaments

We decided to make all of our own ornaments this year. The first ornament we made was super simple. Pour acrylic paint into a clear bulb. We used 2 different colors. Roll, not shake, the paint around. Let dry and hang on tree. Do you remember me saying roll not shake. My husband did not hear that part. Because he shook and we had acrylic paint all over him in my hair and on Grace's face. I love this man. Pamela

HELP! I am being stalked

We went away last weekend. As in 2.5 hours from home. When we came out of the lodge this sign was on my car. Then I looked on facebook and there was a picture of our car and a notice that we had a low tire. I am telling you we can not get away from these people. Okay, really we do not want to. It did make me giggle. Pamela

Tasty Tuesday

Does anyone else blog about the same topic more than once. I was looking through pictures and wondered if I showed you these pictures. I will be honest and say I did not go back and check I am just going to show you again because I enjoy looking at them. A couple of weeks ago we went bowling with church.It was so much fun. We use to bowl all the time. It was so fun to show the little ones how to bowl. It was fun bowling in the dark with everyone glowing. What is bowling without bowling alley pizza. Honestly, it was pretty good pizza. What does your family do together? It is hard with so many different ages to find things that we can do together. Pamela

Oreo cakes and cupcakes

I saw a recipe this week that included oreo’s and reece cups combined and dipped in chocolate. I love both of these things. I cannot wait to try it out and share it with you.
I know I saw this recipe on a blog but for the life of me I can not remember where. It is a super easy idea.
1 white cake mix
1 package of oreos (two rows at least, cut into four pieces each)
Mix cake according to box
stir in oreos
Bake according to box.
I made butter cream frosting and then added crushed oreos to it.
What a wonderful addiction to any cake. I will be honest and say I used Dollar General oreo's because I am frugal like that.
If you like this recipe you may love my
Oreo pancakes
Oreo fudge


I saw this recipe on Tidy Mom. I fell in love. I am addicting to Oreo's right now. This recipe is super simple. Place one oreo in the bottom of each cupcake pan, fill with batter and bake as normal. I actually added oreo's to my cake batter and used oreo frosting.
Have you made anything with oreo's recently. I would love to try the recipe. Just please hurry because I am about to eat plain oreo's.
Pam

Miscellany Monday

I have a special offer for you. It is a magical scale. It helps you lose 27 pounds in one night. That's right, I woke up on my birthday and my scale said I had lost 27 pounds. I stepped off and tried again and again and finally took a picture. Hmm, had I really been losing weight the last couple of months and not known it. So I went back to bed and kept telling myself this is not a dream. The night before I had bought new jeans and gone down a size so it was possible RIGHT? Sadly, when my husband woke up I had him try the scale and it gave him his normal weight. So I tried one more time. I guess I should not have tried one more time because this time the scale said 170. BOO! Did I tell you I just celebrated my birthday. I have to say it was one of the worse birthdays ever and believe me when I say I have had a ton of crappy birthdays. I actually left my house and went to wal-mart to get away. You know it is bad when you go to wal-mart to get away. Well anyways when I came out of wal-mart someone had decorated my car. I did not cry in front of them but I did all the way home. I think I will leave the writting on there until it wears off. Okay, if you want to rent my scale you can contact me at: wishfulthinking.com. I guess it is back to walking and staying away from cookies. Pamela

Iams Dog Food Commercial: Keep Love Strong - Welcome Home

Seriously, this is the best comercial I have seen in a long time. I do not even feed my dog this type of food but love this. When my husband came home a few months ago he walked into the back yard. The dog looked at him from across the yard, took a few steps and looked again. I honestly was a little nervous. Then she took off running and jumped on him. So precious.

A day with daddy

My son had a doctors appointment on base so my husband took him to work with him. This is the picture he texted me. Not exactly what I expected him to be doing that day. Does your spouse ever take your kids to work with them. My kids love it. They only get to go for a short periods of time but they think it is special. We try to stop by his office and visit with him if we are on post. Pamela

Mil Spouse Fill in Friday

1. What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed? A phone call that had to be made, because I know I will be upset about it for days. 2. What was your favorite thing that happened in November? My family went to Great Wolf Lodge, it was amazing and wonderful and a great family adventure 3. What is your favorite holiday memory? hmm, probably any one that includes to time together to talk. I love just the time to relax and talk about the last year 4. What are your plans for New Year’s Eve? This is so cool, I am so excited. We had my sons 16th birthday party at a friend’s. It was a shooting party. She messaged me later that night and said let’s do it again. So for New Years Eve we are going to her house. I am so excited. Now to find childcare for the little ones. 5. What are you looking forward to in December? Seeing my mom, relaxing while hubby takes vacation, making homemade ornaments. Relaxing. Pamela

Feeling Beachie

This week’s statements: 1.Getting up with my husband’s alarm ___in the morning___ is the _worse because I cannot go back to sleep._ 2. _My husband_is my_hero__ 3. I like to think _I know how to parent___; but I know _I am really just winging it____. 4. If I just _forgive_____, then I could __be a much happier, healthier person____. Pamela

5 Question Friday

1. How many times have you moved and do you have any tips? Oh man between birth and 18 we moved like 15 times and that was not in the Army. Since I was 18 I have moved 6 more times. I love moving so this is a good life. 2. Do you have a budget for the holidays, or just keep sliding the credit card and have a heart attack in Jan? We do not have a budget and we have NO credit cards (thanks Dave Ramsey). We do not have a budget but we are very careful. 3. What is the one medical thing you avoid like the plague? The dentist, I wish someone would give me a credit card that I did not pay for to use at the dentist. My dentist will actually put you to sleep for things like cleanings. I have lost a TON of weight (okay 79 pounds). I would love my teeth to look better. 4. What your least favorite Christmas song? I am a scrooge and I love anything that is not about really Christmas. I want to hear silent night and real songs nothing about Santa Claus. Okay, that sounds judgmental since I really like really like “I saw mommy kissing Santa clause. I actually almost got a picture of me kissing Santa Claus. 5. This Christmas are you spending more, less or about the same? Why? We are spending less. Well less on our kids but more on extended family but not by much. I am glad and mad. We are spending less because someone in my house needs counseling and it is not covered by our insurance. That is $500 a month we were not ready for. I do not mind at all and would spend double and triple for this help. I just hate that my insurance company is not paying like they should. Pamela

Banana Cookies

Holy Word, Me oh my, these are amazing and so easy.

Of course I doubled all of the ingredients.
3/4 C. shortening
3/4 C. sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
2 ripe bananas
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 c. flour

1. Cream shortening and sugar together. Add egg, vanilla and bananas.
In a separate bowl, combine salt, baking soda and flour and add to the mix.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Frosting:
3 T. brown sugar
2 T. evaporated milk
4 T. butter
1 C. powdered sugar

1. Melt the butter, evaporated milk and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the powdered sugar (I would add half of it at a time - whisking it smooth before you add in the rest of the cup.) Now you want the frosting to be a very thick glaze, so if you need to add more powdered sugar, do so.
***totally forgot to read the recipe and did not do this step. Now I need to make them again to see if it makes a difference.

2. Frost each cookie. They definitely are the best fresh out of the oven, but are still delicious for a few days after.

I got this recipe from Envy My cooking. She has a ton of amazing recipes on her blog. I think I have a new addition.
Pamela

Wordless Wednesday

We may have allowed our 7 year old to peel potatoes this year. My husband may have used the ham bone to give a health class. I love this man and how he can always make things a learning experience. Pamela

No Bake Cookies

Have you ever eaten no bake cookies. I can keep candy bars in the house and not touch them. But, put no bake cookies in my kitchen and they are going to get eaten. I would bet I ate 30 or more in the last week. It is crazy addicting. I tell myself that the oatmeal is good for me. I always double the recipe. My girls are having a bake sale to raise money to buy Christmas gifts. They sold a TON of no bake cookies. I am so glad they did not sell them to me. I love making no bake cookies because the recipe is in a old MOPS cookbook. I love church cook books. What is your favorite cookbook? 4 cups sugar 1 cup milk 1 stick butter 4 T cocoa 6 cups minute oats 1 cup peanut butter 2t vanilla Mix sugar, cocoa, milk and margarine in heavy saucepan and bring to rolling boil. LET BOIL 1 MINUTE (very important). Remove from heat and add oats, peanut butter and vanilla. Drop by spoonful onto wax paper. Let cool. ENJOY. We make these cookies all the time. So easy and so yummy. Pamela

Miscellany Monday

This week I ate more no bake cookies than I have in years. I would sneak in the kitchen after everyone was asleep and help myself to a couple more. I kept telling myself that they have a ton of oats that are healthy for you. This weekend we went to Great Wolf Lodge with friends from church. Saturday night after everyone was asleep my friends and I sat in the hallway laughing and giggling and doing weird things. We thought we were having fun until one of the Chaplains with us informed us that he heard every thing we said and every noise we made at breakfast. I may never have the guts to enter my church again. Pamela