Eating outside of the box.

The past few times I have gone to the grocery store I have bought nothing in a box. This got m thoughts going. Soooo the entire month of June our family is making a comment to eat nothing from a prepackaged box, bag, wrapper.

I have started shopping at a produce market close to our home. They get all there produce from local farmers. There prices are great and we are supporting our community and the local farmers. It is win win. I am spending about $20.00 every week -2weeks on produce where I used to spend $30.00 - $40.00 on produce every week at the grocery store.

Now when I go into the grocery store I only need meat or chicken, milk, bread, eggs, the basics. We have made the commitment for the entire month of June we will eat nothing out of a prepackaged box. Do you think we can do it? Do you want to join us? I will only shop the outer limits of the grocery store. Unless there are things I NEED in the middle but there shouldn't be. Of course there are things like milk and yogurt and things that have to come in a container, but I want to get away from the middle isles. This saves money, time, and its just better for our health.


We have also stopped using paper towels. WHY? well they are getting expensive and they are bad for MRS. Mother Earth. We use washable microfiber towels or dishtowels instead. This has saved us a lot of money and trash. We are just trying to do our part. Also we use our reusable "green" bags at the stores. I LOVE those bags they hold so much.

It seems these days everyone is trying to be a little more Green, or trying to get a little more Green in there pockets.

What are you doing to be more green? What are you doing to save a little money? Share your tips in the comments and get some new ones from other people. Thanks for sharing.

Camping..or so they call it.

Remember to click on the photo to see all of the pictures from our trip

This past weekend we took a little camping get away with Grandmom and Grandpa. We went up to Homasassa which is about an hour away. We had a wonderful, quite, and relaxing weekend. We didn't do much but had a lot of fun. I let Makayla pretty much do whatever made her happy. We went on lots of walks around the camp ground, played in the dirt, ate yogurt and GIANT cheese balls, grilled hot dogs, watched the rain, made redneck toys, and spent lots of fun times together. Makayla is starting to let go and take a step or two at a time. I don't think it will be long before she gets her balance and is off and running.

Tickle your Taste buds

Today is the start of Tickle your taste buds Tuesday! I made this button myself though it is more of an image right now and less of a button. As soon as I figure out how, I will create a link so that you can grab it and use it on your blog if you would like or you can always leave it in your side bar so people can check the recipes for themselves.
So hear you go...if you make any of the recipes make sure to let me know if you liked it and what your would change.

Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

4 tsp unpacked brown sugar
2 boneless skinless chicken breast
1-2 cloves of garlic chopped

1 shallot chopped fine
2 tbsp butter (I use smart balance)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Melt the butter in a pan
2. Brown the garlic and shallot in the butter
3. Add chicken breasts (depending on what I am serving it with I sometimes cut the chicken up in chunks) and cook thoroughly, adding salt and pepper to taste.
4. When chicken is fully cooked sprinkle brown sugar on top of each breast
5. Cover the pan allow the brown sugar to melt into the chicken (about 5 minutes)

We like to eat the chicken with green beans. When I cut it into chunks we eat it with fried rice or stir fry veggies.

The SPCA called....

the cat that attacked Molly does not have rabies! Molly is doing great and back to her old self. Her wounds are healing nicely and her hair is starting to grow back. The SPCA called on Friday just as we were going out of town. Sorry I didn't get the chance to post earlier I know how worried you all were. Thank you for all of your prayers and love.

Halo or Horns?

M has developed her attitude! Need I say more?

Her hair as always stood up and when the sun hits it it looks like a halo. Her angel personality has always matched her hair do.

Well look at it now.

Her horns are poking through, and she also has the attitude to match.
She is getting very spiteful. She chatters/yells ALL the time(I think she might be a loud talker hmmm where does she get that from?), she gives kisses like a champ (well if she is in the mood that is) she even makes a kissing noise, she tells us NO or STOP IT when she doesn't want something. She defiantly knows what she likes and doesn't like. She is slapping which we are trying to stop. Tooth #2 is in! We made it through #2 much better then #1. Paci's are almost gone. I cut them so she doesn't sucks them but she likes to hold them at night which is fine with me. She is mostly off the bottle and on to a sippy cup. I still give her a bottle if all the sippy cups are dirty, but she doesn't seem to care either way. She is growing up so fast... too fast. I treasure every moment with her whether she is sporting her horns or her halo.

And the winner is......

.......Tickle Your Taste Buds Tuesday!!!! I love it. It was submitted my Brenda. Thanks Brenda. I was so excited to get all the suggestions but that one won it over. I know you are all on the edge of your seats to know what the prize is. Drum roll please. It is an avocado peeler from Pampered chef and a bag of twix-it clips. I bet you wish you would have submitted something. You will just have to wait for the next contest. Brenda email me your info at slbower@gmail.com and I will get you your prize. Thanks again for all your submissions, hope it was fun and that you are ready for the next one! Now I just need to learn how to get one of those fancy buttons to put at the top of every Tickle your taste buds Tuesday post! Anyone know how?

Contest? Don't miss out

Guacamole

I made the best guacamole for lunch.

1 avocado smashed
1/2 lime juice
5 or so cherry tomatoes cut in half
small hand full of cilantro chopped finely
1/3 of a jalapeno chopped small
1 garlic clove pressed or crushed
salt to taste

Mix everything together and enjoy! If you plan on sharing I would double the recipe.
I eat it with sliced red pepper, pita chips, sugar snaps and hummus. What a yummy and healthy lunch or snack.

I have been posting recipes in my right side bar but you can't look back to see the past recipes so starting next week I will start posting the recipes in the blog so you can look them up if you need them later. I want a fun name for the recipe post. This is where YOU come in. Leave me a comment on what I should name recipe day. I will post a new recipe every week but I haven't decided what day so be creative with the day of the week, the subject, everything.

Do you know how to leave a comment? Right below this post it says COMMENTS in blue. Click it and it will take you to a new screen. Type your message and hit post comment. If you don't have a google account you can send it from anonymous just remember to leave your name in the comment so I know who you are if you are the winner. I will receive it. There might will be a prize involved so make sure to send in your ideas by Wednesday the 20th. I will announce the winner Thursday night along with the prize!

one last check

Every night before I go to bed I go into Makayla's room for one last check. I usually recover her with her blanket and put my hand on her back to make sure she is OK. I have been doing this every night since she started sleeping in her crib. The past few nights when I go into check on her she is talking. She talks in her sleep! I am even starting to hear it in the monitor. It is sometimes hard to hear over the sound machine. I know she jabbers alot during the day but even in her sleep? Her jaw needs a break don't you think? I can't imagine where she gets her talking from certainly not her Mom. HeHeHe.

Fun, Free, Friday

Today was supposed to be a day of beauty for me....(I saved up all my birthday money for today! I was going to get my hair cut, eyebrows, waxed, and a pedicure FINALLY. I haven't had one since July 3rd. (I got one because I was going into the hospital to have a baby and because I stopped seeing my feet at about 7 months (I think) I wanted them to look nice.)

Well at about 9:00am I got a phone call...the girl who cuts my hair is sick... appointment cancelled. CRAP! REALLY?

So I told my Mom to stay home and enjoy her day.

So what did We do all day? While Makayla took her nap I spent the morning cleaning! I got our spare bedroom looking more like a spare bedroom and less like a tornado stricken room. I cleaned the kitchen and bathrooms, changed Makayla's crib sheet (those of you who have kids know what a task this can be), laundry, blah blah blah. Defiantly not a day of beauty for me, but the house looks great!

When M woke up she had some lunch, and played with her new Handy Manny tool box (thanks Mom) she loved it!

Then I decided to let her finger paint! She had a blast, and only licked her hands a few times. Don't worry is was toxic free and washable, and she discovered it was nasty.

Look at her beautiful work!

Now that is art!

Needless to say when you let a 10 month old finger paint they tend to need a bath!

I put her in the kitchen sink. She played for 20 minutes! She likes her bath but for some reason the sink was way more fun! It was also alot more fun to slash. She covered the kitchen with water and bubbles, but hey she was having fun.

Then she was hiding from me. Makayla where are you?

I found her!

I tried to take a picture of her new blanket but she didn't want you all to see it and want to cuddle with it. She is very excited about her new blanket. She did pick all the fabrics out herself.

We went outside for a bit and sprayed some ant piles with soap and water (thanks Dad). We walked up and down the side walk with the walker, until it got a little to hot.

She played with Molly who seems to be back to her old self, and went the entire day with no pain medication. This was the first day since the attack.


For those of you who want to see Molly, she let me take a picture of her wounds. These are the the places the vet shaved the others you can't see through her fur.

Poor Molly. She is doing good though, the scabs will have to fall off and the hair will have to grow back and then she will be back to normal.

We played a little more and then she was very excited to show Daddy her art work when he came home. He was very excited to see it. We had dinner and enjoyed our Friday evening at home. We had an awesome day. With the summer coming I won't be working so I am trying to find activities for us to do at home that don't cost much if anything. If you have any ideas please pass them along!

CAT..Tastrophe

WARNING Cat lovers beware.....I don't want aww poor cat comments.

So if you follow me on twitter you may know a little about what the past few days have brought our way. If not let me start from the beginning.

Monday night after dinner Steve took Molly out back to our fenced in yard to go the bathroom. As she was going a cat jumped up on the fence Molly started to bark at the cat, most of the time they run away but instead this cat jumped down, and Attacked Molly yes attacked my beautiful, tiny 4lb baby. Steve pulled the cat off of Molly and tossed it back over the fence but not before he got bit and scratched. Molly came running into my arms (and my screaming head) screeching herself. I found one bloody spot right away she was covered in dirt. As I was TRYING to bath her she started screaming more and when I looked at her side she had LOTS of bloody spots. We called the emergency vet and they said there was not much they could do but clean the wounds...well I can do that without paying $300.00. So I bathed her as best I could cleaned her wounds and laid with her on the couch. She was so scared and nervous. She just wanted to hide in the corner. She did not sleep well that night nor did Steve and I.

Thanks to my sisters skills, before we went to bed we set a cat trap to try and catch the said evil cat. About 2:00am (like I said we didn't sleep much) I looked out the window SUCCESS we trapped a cat. In the morning we took Molly to the vet, they shaved a few spots to get to some of the bad wounds. He said they looked pretty good and I did a good job cleaning them. He gave her some pain meds and antibiotics. A lot of money later Molly is going to be OK...PRICELESS. When I got home I had to deal with the animal control officer who came to pick up the evil cat. He felt sorry for it. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? He took the cat and it will be held for 10 days to make sure it doesn't have rabies I will know those results on the 22nd. If the cat has rabies Molly will more then likely have to be put to sleep. But we are not thinking about that right now and PRAYING the cat was rabies free.

While the officer was here he had to see Molly as well since she got attacked. He asked where her tag was.

Me.." Well she doesn't wear one"

Officer.."why not"

Me.."well she doesn't have one"

Officer.."well I will have to give you a $150.00 fine for not having one and a $150.00 fine for her not having it on.

Me.."Are you kidding"

Officer.."NO, I will give you 24 hours to get the tag and call me with the number to update my file and then I won't fine you.

Me.."ummm OK"

(When ever I put a collar on Molly she squeals like a piglet and just stands there.)

Needless to say I went on Wednesday to get the tag and it will be on a collar and if and when the officer comes back I will put it on her neck and he can be the cause of her squealing. Do you think he will feel bad then?

Tuesday afternoon I talked to my neighbor and guess who is feeding the cats? Yep you guessed it they felt bad when they were kittens and started feeding them. They also have a male cat that lives lived in there backyard house now. They also have more litters in there backyard. We are hoping that is why the "evil" cat attacked.

Me..about the orange male cat"If I catch him he is gone, you are being an irresponsible pet owner"
Neighbor.."I totally understand"

Tuesday night...
Set the trap no luck....Molly is doing better.

Wednesday... Morning the cat is in the trap but it did not close DAMN. reset the trap but did not have any food.
Wednesday evening Steve put Makayla to bed and he went to take the trash out, I opened the garage door and SNAP the trap went off. Yes the cat went into the trap with no food. Ummm smart cat? NO.
I felt bed (yes I have a heart) this cat would be euthanized for really no reason except that our neighbor is irresponsible. Steve drove it away and let it go somewhere. I didn't ask to many questions. He is a cat person remember.

Ahhhh all of our cat problems are gone......that is until I walked my sister out and what do I see walking across the street?

You guessed it the ORANGE CAT. Really? My neighbors told me they would keep it inside or get it neutered, or get rid of it. Well needless to say the trap is set and with food this time. No luck as of Thursday night but this is the male, the TOM so they say and might be a challenge to catch.
I promised Molly we would catch the cats and pay them back.
She was guarding her own back yard and got beat up for it. Fare? I don't think so. I am sorry for those of you who like cats I did have a small place in my heart for them. Now? Not so much.
I can't bring myself to post a picture of Molly she would be so embarrassed if she saw it. Maybe once she starts to heal. For now use your imagination. A 4lb white Chihuahua got attacked by a 12 or so pound cat and has shaved spots all over her. Yep pretty sad.

Sorry for the length since the last post, we've been taking care of the Babies. And getting rid of those who aren't.
Molly seems to be doing well and no signs of anything bad. I will keep you posted.
Please keep Molly in your prayers. You can leave your comments prayers below this post where it says COMMENTS just click there and leave a comment (don't be scared I know you are reading) and I will pass them along to her. I thank you, I don't know what I will do without her. Makayla would have no one to torture. As soon as I hear from the county I will post on the condition of the "evil" cat, for now it's bed time. I have a hair cut appt. in the morning, ohh and a baby to take care of.

My Kid likes to eat.....

Wow does Makayla like to eat! I gave her a corn cob to play with and she was in Heaven. It kept her entertained for a very long time. She liked the feel of the squishy cob and the fact that she had something to chew on.

She got the concept very quickly.

Do NOT take this away from me.

She was so MAD when I took it away.

"This stinks give it back"

Later that day she got a hold of a mini cupcake. I don't know who gave it to her. It certainly was not her mother who thought she would just stick her finger in the frosting. Instead she shoved the entire cupcake in her mouth. Thank goodness it was mini. She enjoyed it to so much she was sucking the paper. I don't think she is going to have a problem digging in at her first birthday. I do hope how ever I don't have to put my 10 month old on a diet.

remember you can click on the photos to see them larger.

My 1st Mother's day...

....in ONE word.....PERFECT

Remember these picture from September of last year? Makayla was only 3 months old. This was her first time in the pool. She was not crazy about it nor should she have been, it was a little young for her to be in the pool but I wanted to start her early. What was I thinking?

Well this was her today!

YES! We have matching Suits. She was Kicking Like a champ

She did not like being dunked...


but she loved her new float. She kicked all around the pool.

It took her a little bit to get used to the water but when she did she LOVED it. She was kicking all around and floating in her float we even put a baby pool in the pool and floated around.

She was splashing and playing. She had a great time and took an awesome nap when she was done.

Today was my first Mother's day and what a wonderful day it was! We spent the day in the pool and relaxing at my Mom's. I got lots of wonderful cards, phone calls, and text messages. I spent the day with the most beautiful gift I have ever received, my wonderful Makayla. Tonight when I rocked her to sleep as we said our prayers I gave her a few extra kisses, held her a little longer and sang her our song. As I looked down at her sleepy eyes I started to get tears. She is the most amazing gift from God. It still sometimes feels so surreal. I feel so special to be her mom. I hope I can do half the job my Mom has done for me. I am so honored to be able to share Mother's day with my mom and my baby.

Mom thank you for all you do for us. We love and appreciate you more then you will ever know. I hope all the Mom's enjoyed there day as much as I did!