Secure Daughters, Confident Sons - Book Review

Ever since I had my first son in December 2007 I have been telling everyone that my goal is to raise a gentleman.  Now that I have two boys, aged 4 and 2, I have the job of raising gentlemen.  I am constantly trying to find ways to learn how to raise boys as well as siblings, since I am an only child.  And this book has given me more insight then I could have imagined.

I jokingly tell my friends that my boys will open doors for girls, pay for dinner and not expect anything afterwards.  After reading this book I feel that I have a guidebook on how to make that happen.  I feel more equipped with the tools to navigate parenting boys.

This book offers great tools to molding your boys into men, not just men, but husbands and fathers.  I also love that this book is not geared just towards boys.  It gives any parent to insight as to how to deal with sons and daughters.  Seeing as I only have boys I am more aware of my nieces and their behaviors.  It helps me to know how to handle them when they come to visit.

I highly recommend this book to any new or seasoned parent.  I loved and enjoyed reading this book.  I plan on reading it over and over as my boys progress through their stages of life.  I am honored that I get to raise my children and am thankful that I have this book to help guide me.

Coming Soon...

I am currently working on revamping my blog for the New Year... check back to see all the new changes on January 1st.

Thx-
Sweet Leilani

Dreaded Burner Covers...

I am not a fan of cooking on an electric stove (I prefer gas just so I can roast my bell peppers and warm tortillas).  But our condo has electric and we cannot convert to anything else.  So I wanted to purchase some burner covers to help keep the kitchen looking nice but only found some moderately decent ones in a fruit and veggie theme.

After poking around on pinterest for the past few weeks I have been inspired to change them.  I have packs and packs of scrapbook paper just lying around and recently found a way to make my own mod podge... so I went for it.

As you can tell my burner covers have been around for a while and are starting to look a little warn and rusted (tin roof)... so after a few coats of my homemade mod podge, I have a cute burner cover.  I am not sure about the clean up on these things but I put 3 coats on and hopefully I will keep them looking nice.

So the another reason why I decided to do this project, which cost me nothing since I had all the elements in my house was that someone (I am forbidden to name names) turned the burner on and didn't remove the cover.  So I started with this one since if it got ruined it wouldn't bother me to toss it in the trash...

Oil Cleansing Method... what?

It has been a long time since I posted anything about anything but I am back and hopefully refocused and ready to dedicate more time to my blog.

First stop... Oil Cleansing Method

Yes this is cleansing as in skin care... with oil and yes you put it on your face.  I cannot say that I came up with this on my own but took it from another blog.  But I wanted to give it a try.  As it turns out I was out of my normal cleanser and decided to try this before purchasing anymore.

Here's what you need:

• Castor Oil (I got mine at CVS in the children's remedies aisle)
• Olive Oil (had this on hand in Costco sized porportions)
• Container

How it works:

The concept is easy... oil washes away oil.  We all know that water and oil don't mix so why would water work on cleaning oil off our faces. 

How you do it:

• Mix your oils... normal skin (1:1) and oily (3:1)... castor oil to olive oil
• Put a quarter sized amount in your palm
• Gently rub into skin for about 1 minute
• Next wet a washcloth with hot water (not scalding) and place it on your face
• Let it cool to room temperature (about 1 mintue)
• Wipe the oil off and your done!

I started yesterday and have to say I love it.  I did it last night before bed and this morning when I woke up.  I plan on doing it for a week to see how things go.  I have to say my skin feels smooth and moisturized and not oily at all.  In fact it feels softer then ever.  I haven't used anything else on my skin, no moisturizer or creams or toner.

Try it and let me know how it works for you... plus it is cheap... the castor oil cost me under $6 for 4 ounces.

Good Luck!

A True Inspiration

God is AMAZING.  This book and young lady are living proof that he loves us and guides us to what we need to do.  Sometimes that guidance can be painful and traumatic but if helping others find the glory of God then so be it.

I absolutely loved this book.  I have never battled with depression or thoughts of suicide but I have lost a few friends from it.  I only wish this book was available for them.  Kristen talks about how she laid down on the tracks and how God saved her life.  She discribes the battles she faced before and after she lost her legs.

Her story is once of triumph and a living testament to the power of God.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who is in need of some grace.

A Lovely Read

Lilies in Moonlight is an amazing story of grace and mercy.  Many of the books I have been reading lately are non-fiction and this was a breath of fresh air.  It transports you to another era while its story of hope and redemption still resonates today.

Savings in 2 days...

So this is the combo of two shopping trips to Vons.

10 bottles of Wish Bone Dressing

4 bottles of KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce

4 packages of Turkey Hot Dogs

1 bag of Dog Food (not pictured)

Total Retail: $69.01

Total Out of Pocket: $8.62

Total Savings: $60.39

That's 87% off full retail... now thats exciting!!

If you are interested in learning how to be a Super Couponer send me an email to leilanianderson2010@gmail.com and I will get you the info on the class that I took to learn these techniques.

Couponing

Ok apparently there is this show, Extreme Couponing that everyone is watching.  I have only seen one episode and those ladies are extreme.  I recently started taking a coupon class with my friends and have save over $600 in just a few weeks.  I am not spending like crazy just making the purchases that I normally would for my family.

Have you started couponing?  Are you looking for a way to keep your coupons organized?  I found a woman that offers a great binder to keep your coupons at hand and make it easier than ever to get started.

Click on the button to the left, Save at Home Mommy to get yours today!!

A TON of Motivation...

This is a great book for anyone needing some career motivation.  I am a stay at home mom and thought this book would be great for figuring out what to do when my kids start school... I was right!

Many SAHM's I know are trying to make a little extra money on the side and this book gives you the motivation and guidance to help to find our true calling.  It is packed with God's wisdom and a man's motivation to help you find your path.

I would recommend this book to EVERYONE... it helps you to see that, in this life, we need to find our passion and not just a job.  Granted many of us just need a job to pay the bills but when one door closes another opens.  If you were recently laid off this is a great read to help you find your way.  If you know someone who is in need to motivation this is a great gift.

Even if you think you like your job you should read this book.  I don't think there is a single person who wouldn't benefit from this.  Get it and get it now!

No More Dreaded Mondays...

I am currently reading a book titled, No More Dreaded Mondays by Dan Miller.  All I have to say is wow... this book is a great motivator to anyone needing some.  Being a stay at home mom I tend to think of myself as unemployed but that couldn't be further from the truth.  I am a mom, the so called hardest job in the world.  I am the CEO of my household.  I keep the house in order.  I decide on what my family will eat and what my family will buy.  Most stay at home moms don't give themselves enough credit.

I came across a great paragraph that I want to share...

"In the busyness of modern life, I fear many of us have lost the rhythm between activity and rest.  Just as exhaling without occasionally inhaling will cause a person to turn blue and pass out, busyness without rest will cause you to pass out on the things that matter.  "I am so busy."  We say this as a badge of honor, as if our exhaustion were a trophy and our ability to withstand seventy-to-eighty-hour workweeks a mark of real character.  We convince ourselves that the busier we are, the more we are accomplishing and the more important we must be.  But is this really so?  Does more activity really mean more accomplishment?  To be unavailable to friends and family. to miss the sunsets and the full moons, to blast through our obligations without time for taking a deep breath - are these really the marks of a successful life?"

It is true.  In this age the more you have going on the more important you seem to feel.  Have you ever come home from a long day of work and just wanted to be alone?  Yet your family hasn't seen you all day and all they want to do is hang out, talk and play?  Do you give of yourself so much to your job that your family doesn't get any of the "fun" you?

With Memorial Weekend coming up make sure that you take some time to share some time with your friends and family.  Enjoy your life...

30 min Shirt

I was given a bunch of remnant fabric and also the challenge to make something out of it.  I found this large rectangle of green fabric... and loved the color but didn't know what to do with it.  I held it up and envisioned a draped shirt of some kind.  I am not a seamstress and my sewing skills are great for straight lines.

I started with cutting the fabric in half, creating two large squares.  I sewed along the top edges to create the shoulders and down the sides (at and angle) to create a tapered waist line.  I didn't have to finish the edges since this fabric doesn't fray... I have to say that this is great for my first try... I have blue and grey fabrics in the same size and material.  I hope to make two more shirts.

Philly Cooking Creme

I keep seeing these commercials of a mom staring at the chicken on her cutting board and just can't possibly think of what to do tonight.  So she reaches for the Philadelphia Cooking Creme.  It magically transforms her families chicken and veggies into a miracle dish that the whole family will love.  Now I haven't personally tried this yet and am hesitant to do so.  I am the kind of person that likes to experiment and make my own sauces and this is just not a product that I don't want to try.

I decided to look up the ingredients and nutritional facts before I made my final decision.  Here is the breakdown for 1/4 cup.  The first thing that strikes me is the saturated fat... 5 grams seems like a lot.  Not to mention the 480 mg of sodium.  I can also guarantee that we are not going to stick to the serving size.  The tub is 10 oz and that is enough for my husband and I.  So I imagine that we are both doubling these numbers.

Calories 110 Calories from Fat  80
% Daily Value
Total Fat 9g	14%
Saturated Fat 5g	25%
Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 30mg	10%
Sodium 480mg	20%
Total Carbohydrate 5g	2%
Dietary Fiber 0g	0%
Sugars 3g
Protein 4g	8%

I know that chicken is a great go-to meat and we eat more of it than any other meat in my household but I can think of tons of things to do with it.  You can make a simple white sauce with butter, flour and milk.  Then you can season it a million different ways.  This week I am going to try a Caprese Chicken... chicken breast stuffed with basil, tomatoes and mozarella cheese.

If you want to try this or you have please let me know.  I don't see anything wrong with using this every now and it might taste great.  But I am going to stick with making my families food homemade.

Water for Elephants

My girlfriend and I went to see this on Saturday night... movie night without the kids is a rarity these days.  I found this movie enchanting yet it seemed to leave me wanting more.  Set in 1931 during the depression Jacob (odd name choice for Twilight's Edward to play) joins the circus and falls in love with the boss' wife.  Reese Witherspoon is gorgeous, as usual and Robert Pattinson is handsome and dashing but neither performance was anything to write home about... or blog for that matter.  I can see this film grabbing Oscar nods for costume design and other artsy avenues.  The visuals were breathtaking and made me want to run away and join the circus.

The star of this movie is August, played by the amazing Christoph Waltz.  He does not disappoint as the tyrant circus owner who seems to run his circus like he ran his Jew search in Inglourious Basterds.  He won as Oscar for his role as the brilliantly evil Col. Landa in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.  He brings the same instensity and anger to this role.  He just might get another Oscar nod for this role as well.

The elephant, Rosie, was also a great contender for the top stop.  This movie is packed with excitement and spectacle but is nothing you need to rush to the theater to see.  I give it a B- just because it wasn't horrible but it wasn't the best I had seen.  If you like any of the actors then you will enjoy this movie.

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Many of you may or may not know that my family rarely visits fast-food restaurants.  This was a huge struggle for me in the beginning since during my college days I survived on Jack-in-the-Box tacos.  But after my first son was born I began to hear myself saying, "I would never feed my baby fast food".  So the natural question was then why am I eating it.  So my family made the decision that fast food was not going to be in our vocabulary.

Since my job is to feed and shop for my family I have been trying to find ways to feed them the best and healthiest way possible.  My oldest son, at 3 1/2 does not know what McDonalds is although he does know what a double-double is.  Because of living in Southern California we have In-n-Out... the best hamburgers in the world.  So on occasion when time does not permit for me to make a meal or if we happen to be craving some In-n-Out we do stop in.  But I can vouch that In-n-Out is one of the only fast food joints we will go to.

The other is Chick-fil-A.  The only reason I say this is because my husband got some free meal coupons from a co-worker and we decided to use them.  We got the sandwich and waffle fry combo for us and the chicken nuggets for the kids.  When we opened them I was surprised to find that the chicken nuggets were just that.  They were chunks of breast meat cut into bite size pieces, breaded and fried.  Aside from the frying part these chicken nuggets have made my fast food approved food list.

But I still have to stick to my guns about eating fast food.  While it is done in my house (maybe twice a year) I still don't want my boys to think that this is good food to eat all the time.  So I decided to make chicken nuggets at home.  I have made them in the past but always to order and this time I wanted to make a bunch of them, freeze them and then use them when I needed to.

I started with 3 chicken breasts.  I trimmed any extra fat or stuff that I don't like off of them and cut them into bite sized pieces.  I then dipped them into milk and then tossed them in my breadcrumb mixture.  Sometimes I have homemade breadcrumbs but this time I used store bought.  I then put them in a single layer on a baking sheet with some extra breadcrumbs sprinkled on the bottom so they would not stick.  I put them in the freezer overnight... and viola... homemade chicken nuggets.

I labeled the freezer bag with the cooking directions just in case Papa or a grandma wanted to cook them.  And into the freezer they went.  We are going to have some next week.  I hope that you try these at home.  You can take a few minutes a month and make a ton of these.  You know exactly what you are feeding your family and you can feel good about what they are eating... good luck!

Toy Sling

Since I was blessed with boys this means that I cannot be the kind of stay at home mom who makes pillowcase dresses or giant flower headbands for my kids.  I am left being more creative to find things to make for my boys that are cool but functional.

We are working on turning their "bedroom" into a playroom.  We have taken off the bed frame and turned the bed into a couch.  We put a television in there just so they can watch their movies while we watch ours.  As it turns out they have more stuffed animals then I realized and needed somewhere to put them...

In came the Toy Sling idea.  I took some leftover fabric that I had from making their pajamas and turned it into a place to store their stuffed animals.  My original design was more of a pouch but you couldn't see what was in there and if you can't tell what you have then we might as well donate all the toys... so I made this...

This is the view from the bottom.  And it is a simple triangle and I have attached it by sewing button holes along the front and two at the back.  I used some mug hooks I got on sale from CVS and instant room changer... love it!

I really like it and plan to make a second one for the opposite corner since I didn't realize that they had some bigger ones that just don't fit in their right.  I will post pictures once their room is done.  We are planning on painting the walls since Franco decided to paint it with a sharpie one night...

An Inspiration for Us All

Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic

Just by looking at Nick you know he has overcome a lot.  The reason why I wanted to read this book was because I saw a YouTube clip of him.  I knew that he had something to say.

His tale is of heartbreak and surpassing the limits.  He has learned to overcome the most simple of tasks and has done so with the help of God's love.

This is a fantastic book for anyone to read.  You don't need to be looking for motivation but you will find it here.  He talks of his dark past and how God was able to help him move past it and find that he had a purpose in life.

For me that was the most important message.  He talks about God's love and how you can use it to your advantage.  I am looking to start a new career and this is just the motivation that I needed.  But unlike him I am not going to learn to surf... which is an amazing feat with arms and legs.

Nick is a true inspiration to us all.  I feel that I am able to tackle everything once reading his words of encouragement.  Heck, if he can do it... so can I.

I urge you to check out Nick's website Life Without Limbs...

Mom Spotted

This is a super cute blog about different product reviews.  She covers all kinds of products that my family would use and buy.  I love this giveaway right now for a BBQ set for outdoors.

Check it out here... momspotted

Enjoy!

Good Friday

I know that today is Earth Day and it seems that most people are concerned about the earth these days... so am I.  It seems that as long as I can remember my dad started recycling... even buying me a can crusher for Christmas one year.  But another day has become more important to me these days... Good Friday.

I am a new Christian and have found great peace in knowing that God loves me and sent his only son to pay for my sins.  I am overjoyed that he has touched my families life and I want to share it with my friends and family.  Tonight my husband and I are attending the Good Friday services at Emmanuel Faith Community Church in Escondido.  The pastor has asked us to share our testimonies with the gathering tonight... and I am nervous.  Speaking in front of large groups is not my cup of tea but what if someone out there was like me and needs to hear my story?  So before I share it tonight I have decided to share it with you.

My Testimony

I did not grow up in a Christian home.  I grew up in a loving home that taught me about love, family and being a good person.  I attended a Presbyterian Church school from kindergarten through second grade and then made the transition to pubic school.  I remember going to chapel in school and I did not like it at all... but then again God and Jesus were not big topics in my home.  God was not shunned but not the focus either.

As I grew up I began to question just like every other kid in the world.  When I got to junior high I became friends with a girl who grew up in a very Christian home.  She attend a youth group on Wednesday nights... and me wanting to hang out with my best friend started attending church.  The only thing it did was present me with even more questions.  I needed proof... physical proof in order to believe.  But was given none.  My best friends mom even offered to have a private bible study with her daughter and I.

It started off great.  I thought I would be the "smart" teenager and ask the hard questions... abortion and gays.  I do not recall what we actually talked about and I think looking back that that was part of my journey.  I was only to be exposed to it and it wasn't my time.  I started to believe that I didn't need church nor faith in order to go to heaven.  I only needed to be a good person... and that's the point, right?

Treat others and you would like to be treated... I was a good kid and I figured that would be enough.  Throughout high school and college I never gave much attention to religion or spirituality.  I did start to explore Buddhism with my ex-husband and found great power in the belief that all things are connected.  I loved the focus on family and relating to others but it never felt right.

It seems that 2004 was the start of my path toward God.  My father got diagnosed with cancer.  My dog of 18 years passed away.  I lost my grandfather to prostate cancer.  I got divorced.  Then I lost my other grandfather.  It was a rough time... it seems that all the men in my life were being slowly taken away.  And if things couldn't get any worse my father died in May 2005 and then his brother was diagnosed by the very cancer that killed my dad and their two sisters.  In my eyes, God turned his back on us.

Then life started to turn around.  I met Hermann while working at Starbucks.  For me it was instant... I knew I loved him right from the start.  We started living together in 2007 and within days found out we were having our first child.  We had our first son in December 2007 and our second son in January 2010... suddenly religion became even more important.  Hermann's aunt became a Christian and it made me start to question God all over again.

I decided that it was time to rent The Passion of the Christ.  I had heard a lot about this movie but didn't really know what to expect.  As I watched I began overcome with emotion.  If nothing just from a human stance that someone endured all that he did and never had any hatred toward the people who did it.  People tell you of what Jesus endured during his last hours but when you actually see what was done and how it was done... it just broke my heart.  I needed to know more.

My husband and I spent many late nights discussing different religions and searching for churches in our area.  It seems that we were both ready to give it a try.  But it wasn't until September 2010 that we actually went to church.  We never really discussed going but we just went to be the night before and decided that we were going to go the next day.  We had often came up with a ton of excuses of why not to go and I don't know if we ran out of excuses or what but it just seemed like the right time.

I remember walking in to church and feeling completely out of place.  It wasn't until about our 4th or 5th Sunday that I began to feel a strange calm come over me.  My older son was talking about God and how he made the whole world and it didn't make me mad (like it used to) instead I was overjoyed that he and his brother will grow up with God's love.  A few months after going to church and seeing the great impact it was having on my children I accepted God into my heart... and that was the best decision that I have ever made.

I feel that I am raising my children better now then I ever did.  I am giving them God's love and letting them know his love every day.  I appreciate things more now than I ever did.  I am at peace and am so happy that I get to spend eternity with my husband and my children.  When I look back on it I believe that God has given me back the men in my life.  I have an amazing husband and two sons that I absolutely adore.

My husband and I plan to be baptized this year.  God's love has blessed my family and I couldn't be more happy.

Real Food for Thought

What's for Dinner?

A simple enough question but how much thought do you put into your food.  For most American's and families these days I am sure it starts with some sort of packaged or boxed product that vaguely resembles food and if you simply add water it magically becomes dinner.  Or how many times have you simply driven through your local fast food joint and called that dinner?

How did we get like this?  How did we go from having great, homemade food to eating food that could last years on our shelves?  Is it out of convenience, laziness or brain washing?

Don't get me wrong... I do it too.  There were times when I was growing up that my mashed potatoes started life out as flakes.  I have even driven through any number of fast food places and served it to my family as dinner.  But one afternoon a few years ago I decided that enough was enough.  I was a stay at home mom and I needed to make my families food as fresh and healthy as possible.

I started really simple... I watched Food Inc.  A great documentary that shows you basically where your food comes from.  Since so many of us are not into slaughtering our own beef we buy it neatly packaged under cellophane and assume that it is good for us.  We purchase our fruits and veggies from the supermarket and don't pick them ourselves.

My first call to action is to look at what you are making our family for dinner.

Tonight my family is having Turkey Burgers (on whole wheat buns) covered in bacon, swiss cheese, and sauteed mushrooms and corn on the cob.  Granted I didn't make the buns but I am making the burgers myself.  If you are opening a box tonight for dinner just take some time and stop and think about how much effort it would take to make this meal from scratch... I don't want you to feel guilty about using it but I want you to start thinking about it.

The first step is to be aware of what you are eating.  I am making my family spaghetti in a few days and am using jarred sauce.  I can easily make sauce from scratch but it was on sale a few weeks back and I figured it would be nice to have some on hand.  I just want you to start thinking about where the changes can be made.

I want to try to post every Wednesday some sort of food related, educational post to try to hold myself accountable in keeping with my new found food values but also to help educate and inspire my friends and family to make simple, little changes in their diets to help remove processed foods from our diets.

Lizards and Snakes Alive... blah!

I just took my sons to the San Diego Natural History Museum to see there exhibit, Lizards and Snakes Alive... I have to honestly say that it was definitely worth the FREE Resident admission but not worth the drive.  While my 3 year old loved every minute of it... I could have just as easily took him to our local reptile store and had just as much fun.  If you are planning a trip to Balboa Park make sure you hit up the other museums while you are there.

Rueben H. Fleet's Kid City was a great time and they even have an area that my little 13 month old could safely crawl around.  We had tons of fun and will definitely be heading back.

How Good is Good Enough?

Being a new believer in Christ myself I found this book to be a huge help in understanding where my mind was all the years I did not believe.  I think that something needs to happen in your life in order to find your way to Christianity but this book serves as a start.

When you actually stop to think about the idea that many of us have, "Good People Go to Heaven", it sounds great on the surface.  But it really is not a guaranteed mind set in order to get into heaven.  Andy Stanley helps guide the non-believer or the new believer alike.

I found this book to be a nice, quick read and a great introduction into the beliefs of my new found religion.  Looking back on my life I always said that I live my life as a good person and that should be enough.  He outlines the problems with this view and how you can honestly analyze why it isn't the way into heaven.

If you are searching or have found Christ I recommend this book if nothing to more solidify your choice but also as a great way to talk to people about Christianity.  This is a nice book to give to your non-believing friends and family and a great way to get them thinking.

http://www.waterbrookmultnomah.com/bloggingforbooks/reviews/view/4822/bmc:1/bc:21/month:all/year:all

Improv Garlic Bread

If you are like me you hate menu planning.  I have tried it in the past but I like to just buy what is on sale at the grocery store and let my imagination take over.  Well after making a large batch of homemade ravioli's I needed some garlic bread to go with them.

I didn't want to run to the store and looked around at what I had...

• butter
• garlic powder
• salt
• dried parsley
• hot dog buns

So I went for it.  Take your hot dog buns and break them into "breadsticks".  Butter each one and top with salt, garlic and parsley (you can use fresh garlic and omit the salt if you want)... let your imagination run wild... anything goes.  Put them under the broiler and in a few minutes you are done.

Won Ton Ravioli's

Every week at the grocery store I see the packaged won ton wrappers and always wanted to make ravioli's with them... so last week I took the plunge and purchased them.  I had no idea what to expect but the results were so delicious.  I picked up some mushrooms and made a delicious mushroom sauce to accompany them.

There were 60 wrappers in all so we were eating them for days... my mom sprinkled a little parmigiana cheese on hers and we topped ours with mushroom sauce one night and a marinara the next.

Spice Jars

I have been trying to find a use for all the empty jars of baby food that we have.  So I decided that I would use them for my spices.  At Henry's I found these great spices that are only $1...

I cleaned the jars and added some nifty little labels and my spice cabinet is looking cuter than ever...

Love Oatmeal

One of my new favorite breakfasts is steel cut oats.  I usually keep it simple with just a little brown sugar and milk but with Valentine's Day just around the corner I decided to doll it up a bit.  I had made some apple-plum butter over the summer and decided it was time to use it.

The result was delicious!

Inspiration

Inspiration comes in all different forms.  I was doing laundry at my mom's house today and spotted this magnet on her fridge...

a lovely picture of my grandma.  My aunt had it made into a magnet so it sits on my mom's fridge for all to see.  I started thinking about how life was back then.  Was it maybe easier since technology wasn't there?  Or was it harder because there was no technology?

I think it might have been a little of both.  No computers and little television probably made for a more active family.  I picture family picnics and vacations... like the one from Dirty Dancing (minus the dirty dancing part).  Kids playing outside having fun and parents inside not worried about someone taking their child.

I long for a time... a simpler time.  We cancelled our cable and only have the basic 23 channels.  It has been hard but we spend less time in front of the television and more time outside.  The kids have their movies that they watch and we have Netflix so we can watch our movies too.

I would like to take my family back to a simpler time.  One that doesn't include hours spent in front of the television or on the computer.  I plan on taking my family back to a time where food was made from real food and not processed.  A time where mom sewed clothing for the kids... this is my place to do just that.

Join me for some fun as I attempt to go down this path...