You bought a new WHAT?

My sweet husband calls me up a few weeks ago and says, "I did something kind of stupid". You can only imagine what was going through my mind at that point. So when he tells me bought a new camera I was surprised yet relieved. I was just learning how to use our other Nikon on manual mode. I haven't learned how to properly use the new one but even on the auto setting and with no photoshop adjustments the pictures look pretty good! I snapped some this morning of my two youngers. Brooke is wearing a cute ensemble she put together to go grocery shopping- red tights, black dress shoes that are a couple of sizes too big, and a summer dress with blueberries on it. Pick your battles, right?
So here's the pics....

Dairy Free

So, one of my goals with this crazy blog is to bring in ideas from other moms who may home school or be dealing with some of the same issues I do! One "issue" I deal with daily is a milk allergy. My middle daughter has a severe milk allergy that we are praying will go away soon. Judging from the hives she got from eating Mcdonald's fries the other day, I am thinking it's not going anywhere soon. Who knew McD's fries had traces of milk!!! I am always looking for ways to cook without milk AND for the food to actually taste good. After preparing meals this way for three years I have gotten pretty good. I also love to get new ideas from others. I am going to post a dairy free cooking idea every once in a while. If someone takes a look at this blog and has a yummy recipe they would like to share, please do. I am off to make star shaped cookies. My daughter goes to church on Wednesdays and they are learning the verse "When they saw the stars, they were overjoyed". They will be eating star shaped cookies which most likely will contain milk or normal butter. I will be making sugar cookies using Earth Balance butter. It's dairy free and tastes pretty good. Also, it's organic and is free of yucky additives and preservatives. Be sure to use the regular spread not whipped if you decide to try this out. Happy Dairy Free Cooking!

Moms Cleaning Club

I had to post a fantastic idea I came across today as I am constantly striving to get my homeschool life in order! There is a facebook group called Moms Cleaning Club. I found it to be particularly interesting because each day you can print off a list of "chores" to be done that will help your house stay in shape without trying to do it all on one day. Just another helpful way to get organized. I also read an email from the lady who uses this and she sets a timer for an hour. Everyone has certain tasks that are theirs on the list. They strive to get it all done before the time goes off then begin school. I like this! I printed the lists today. I will see if it works tomorrow! How fantastic would that be for all of the cleaning stuff to be done before school even begins!!!

The Chocolate Bar

Well I died and went to chocolate heaven today. It's called The Chocolate Bar and I'm sure it's nothing new for people around this area. But I had never been there so it was a must for my birthday. Thursday I told my hubby, "Just FYI, Saturday is my birthday and I want to go to The Chocolate Bar". So we went. Baby screamed the whole way there but it was still worth it. I chose the hot chocolate. Not normal hot chocolate. We're talking sipping chocolate, people. YUM!! I had two choices. The small which was the size of tiny bathroom dixie cup or the regular which was about the size of a Starbucks small. Of course I chose the bigger one. After all, it is my birthday. Even though the chocolaty goodness tasted like pure bliss topped with whipped cream, I couldn't begin to finish it. Next time I will order the tiny one. Lesson learned. Baby screamed the whole way home but still totally worth it. When we got home we had dance lessons. Brooke didn't want us to put her ear drops in so I told her I would do a really crazy dance for her when she was done. Somehow that did the trick and when she was done I proceeded to show her my "kid n play" dance moves. Then came the roger rabbit and even some combo hip hop moves straight from my middle school cheer camp. How do I remember this stuff? After that all of us girls were in the dancing mood so I made my hubbs get off the computer and show the girls he knows how to two step. After much coercing he finally gave in. How sweet it is to see a daddy dancing with his girls. I think he enjoyed it too. Overall, an amazing day!!! Thank you God for giving me another year and an amazing family!

Birthdays and Welcome

Welcome to day one of the blog experiment. Today's my birthday and I had kind of "forgotten" how old I was until I just viewed my profile and it said "31". Where does the time go? It's ok though. Life's just beginning, right? I decided to finally try to reach one of my goals in life which is creating a really cool blog like other people's I have browsed. My nine year old daughter has one. Why has it taken me so long? And as I nurse my five month old as I type with one hand, I realize, this is why! I've never been one to back away from a challenge though. So join me as I attempt to juggle it all while trying to share photos, homeschool fun, self-deprecating humor, and hopefully, a cute story or two about my average but unique life as a mommy.