Lake Vacation 2013

In July we enjoyed a wonderful week at the lake. Chris, Melissa and the boys are kind enough to let us crash their cottage. It was another restful and fun week. Here are some of the highlights of our week...

(you should be able to click on the pictures for a bigger view)

Kaleb in the kayak chillin' out...

Their canoe garden. I love that they used a beat up old canoe to hold their plants.

Josh and Bailey go for a ride. As usual, Bailey spent more time in the water than out.

Melissa and I did a project mid week. How is that for a studio? I could get used to working like that!

Thumbs up to lake time!

Joshua knee boarding. This was the first summer trying out a knee board and we managed to get all the kids up. Looked like a blast but was a bit of a trick to get up on. 

Tubing cousins.

Boat cruisin' cousins.

A gaggle of cousins, lol...

The PA cousins joined us for a day, along with Thom, Mom and Dad. It was wonderful!

Logan was the youngest to get up on skis at 5 and Dad was the oldest, at...well, let's just call it 35 :)

Go Dad!!! Impressive indeed.

We had lots of first times this year. Kaleb skied on 1 ski for the first time. He makes it look so easy.

After many, many, many years of trying Joshua finally mastered 2 skis. I am so proud of him for not giving up.

Lots of weird weather during the week. This was on July 4th. A complete rainbow, actually a double rainbow but the contrast between the dark and light on either side was cool!

A lake neighbor let us borrow a home made disk. I wish I had pics of neighbor John (in his mid 60's) demonstrating how to ride this thing. Crazy is all I can say. It was just a round piece of plywood, no handles or anything fancy. Oh the good 'ol days when you had to use your imagination to create fun. Greg was determined to give it a whirl. 

And he did...

Lots of swinging from the rope swing...

and tether ball...lake style

We watched a purple martin evict a tree swallow from its home. It was a Mutual of Omaha Wild Kingdom moment to see the mama swallow toss her babies over the edge to their eventual death. The stress was just too much I guess.  A fascinating and upsetting event to observe.

Fish were caught and eaten.

Greg got to sail the open waters.

Good times.

Desk Make-Over

When we sold the house in Ransomville we had to downsize some of our belongings. We went from a 1650 sq ft house to a 1200 sq ft house and it wasn't all gonna fit. One of the things we got rid of was our big desk. The computer and printer still needed a place to go though so for the last 10 months we have been using a 4' folding table as a desk. Not an ideal long term solution. The budget just doesn't have room for extra's these days and honestly, the table functions just fine even if it isn't pretty.

We held our own garage sale 3 weeks ago and were able to get rid of a lot and make some extra money. After paying some bills there was enough left over that I had some pocket change to shop at other people's garage sales. Yep, we sold our junk so we could buy other people's junk, lol. It was the same sale I bought the bread maker at. It was a very fruitful neighborhood sale and my little Vibe fit it all in!! Love that car!! Anyway, I found a desk that fit the bill and only cost me $15. Or was it $20? I don't remember exactly, but either way, it was the right price, the right size and the right look...almost.

A simple oak desk with a slide out keyboard tray.

The top had some artwork on it that needed to go. The oak didn't match the dining room decor where the desk is going. (Either does the plastic folding table, but it served its purpose) The oak was soon to be transformed.

After a bit of sanding, Greg primed it with Kilz. Then it got 2 coats of black latex paint and 2 coats of poly.

Now she looks like this...

Things I learned...

-Like I said in my last post, I am not a fan of the paint and poly process. It takes too long!

-painting with black paint in a dimly lit, cramped garage doesn't work very well. (I got impatient waiting for the rain to stop)

-painting in rainy weather makes everything take even longer to dry, ugh.

- Painting is not exactly my strength!

-I am pretty impatient. No, really impatient! Maybe this is the wrong hobby for me. Or maybe it is the thing to teach me patience.

-I didn't distress this piece and wish I had.

-someone's else's trash is now our treasure.

In the end, I like it. Muchly. It looks better in black and definitely better than the folding table.

Round Table Re-Do

So, I told you I have been working on something new. I really needed an outlet, something to do with myself creatively. This is again where Pinterest has gotten me! For months I have drooled over people's furniture make overs. It is crazy how a piece I would designate to the curb can be brought back to life with a little paint and attention. I read tons of blogs on various painting methods. Chalk paint. Latex paint. Distressing. Waxing. On and on and on.

Here's the thing about me...when I find something I like I tend to go all in. Sometimes even more than all in. Greg can tell you how the "gone nuts" gauge pegs at red at times. Because I am such a self-actualized individual and I know myself so well (excuse me while I spew soda, lol), it took me a long time to decide to try my own hand at making over a piece of furniture. I had to be good and ready in case the gone nuts meter pegged again. I had a good idea it might.

Several weeks ago Kaleb and I went to a large community garage sale in the city. I had heard people rave over this sale and the crowd certainly was an indication that many people agreed. We walked and walked and walked. In the end, we lugged a 12 pound bowling ball home ($2), Kaleb bought a weight bench with lots of metal weights ($20 and by far the best deal of the day!) and I got this lovely piece for $23.

Isn't she purty???

She sat in our living room like this for weeks. It took that long to decide what to do with her and to take the plunge. She was in fairly good condition but the top had water stains and such. In the end I decided to paint the body with chalk paint and refinish the top to keep the natural beauty of the wood.

Now she looks like this...

Now she really is purty!

I love the brass hardware on the drawer and the feet.

After all the reading I did, I went with Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old White and then waxed it with Annie Sloan clear and dark waxes. It has a little bit of distressing with sandpaper but I didn't want a heavily distressed piece when I was finished so the sanding and dark wax were done with a light touch. For the top it was Dad to the rescue! He helped me figure out that the finish was shellac and then showed me how to take it off with denatured alcohol. After I let it dry for a couple of days, I put on 2 coats of poly and then Greg finished it off with paste wax. I love that the original stain is still on the piece, as are some of the original dings but now the surface is smooth as butttahhh!!!

Here is a picture of it taken inside, it shows off the brass feet better.When it was stained dark, the feet got completely lost.

Things I learned...

-I like working with chalk paint, very little prep which is great for an instant gratification gal like myself.

-Reddish stains are some of the few things that will bleed through chalk paint (there are a few light pink spots on the table but they are part of her character now, I am not re-doing the re-do)

-waxing is a work out

-waiting the 3-4 days it took to remove the finish off the top, poly and wax it was agony. I did the painting and waxing of the rest of the table in a day! Well, maybe a day and a half.

-this house isn't big enough to store all the pieces I know are out there, lol!

If this piece was the litmus test, I think the result is more please!

And those weights Kaleb bought? They were a bit rusty so he used some steel wool to clean them up and then spray painted them with black Rustoleum paint. They look great now! And he didn't even need weeks to ponder his actions, he came right home and got to it. He is so pleased with his bargain purchase and I am so proud of his efforts!

A Plethora of Strawberries!

If you are a local reader then you know that life in Rochester lately has been rain, rain and more rain. I am not sure even Seattle is getting the rain we are! The boys had final exams last week and since both Greg and I were working, they often had to ride their bikes to school in the rain. It was either that or ride the bus and stay all day and neither one of them wanted to do that. Roads and parking lots are flooding. The sump pump runs almost non-stop since the ground is so saturated. The dog doesn't even want to go outside, lol.

Saturday we actually had a break from the rain so we all set out to a local farm to pick strawberries. The picking was great, we were given our own section to pick and it was loaded with berries. In no time at all we had picked 20 pounds of strawberries!! Plus the *?* pounds we ate as we went. We made the boys pose for a photo op...

We really should have thought through how many pounds we needed. Really?? 20 lbs??? What we were thinking? 

Because of all the rain, many of the berries were very juicy and I knew they wouldn't last long. The first order of business was strawberry shortcake with freshly whipped cream. Oh my! We all ate ourselves silly. 

Sadly, we hadn't even made a dent in the 20 pounds so I made 6 batches of jam. I haven't canned anything in 2 years because of our move last year and I have been looking forward to strawberry season so I could make some jam. I don't think freezer jam actually counts as canning but I was ready to replenish the stash of homemade jams. The jam is in canning jars, so it looks like I canned, right?! I had to resort to store bought jams and jellies in recent months and they just are not the same! 

I love the taste of strawberry freezer jam. It tastes so fresh. And I love the bright red color. Yes, there is enough sugar in the recipe to send a diabetic into shock but the taste is so awesome.

Even after all of that we still had tons of berries. We enjoyed some dipped in chocolate today for dessert and the rest is being frozen to use later in smoothies.

Note to my 2014 self....10 pounds will do just fine!

Creating Joy

Hello friends and family! I am back and guess what? This post has nothing to do with cereal, lol! 

Now that winter really is behind us I think spring is springing up inside of me as well as outside. I finally got tired of being inside, doing not-so-much. Don't get me wrong, I am usually doing something...cooking, cleaning, laundry, couponing, carting the boys places. It's not like there is an indent of my behind on the sofa from being glued to the TV. My creative juices have just been frozen since our whole move process began last summer. There was no room, or time, or funds or whatever to do much creatively. All my stamping supplies are still in boxes in the basement. I did not realize how much it was affecting me to not have a creative outlet. Mama has been a bit unhappy of late. And you know how the saying goes..."If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"

It has helped to just get outside and do some things around the house. We cleaned up the flower beds, planted some new Hosta's and several Impatiens, hung some hanging baskets on the back porch, got some tomato plants going in 5 gallon buckets and various other projects. The yard is looking nice, now if the rain would just go away so we might be able to enjoy it!

One of my winter addictions was and still is browsing Pinterest. Oh the things you never knew you needed or wanted!! I have a new list of places in the world I want to visit some day thanks to Pinterest. I also have loads  of new recipes to experiment with, hobbies to try out, and so much more.  

One of the bugs I got in my head was to make homemade bread. The problem is all that kneading and work for something that gets gobbled up in seconds. I found this wonderful blog post, via Pinterest of course, that shared a bread recipe that starts out in a bread maker. Genius! Except for the part where I realize I don't have a bread maker.I told you Pinterest makes you want/need things. Buying one new was just not in the budget so I have been patiently searching out thrift stores for a couple of months. Nothing. At least nothing that I thought I could work with. Two weekends ago I got up early and went to a local neighborhood garage sale. Bingo, there was a barely used bread maker in perfect condition calling my name. Really...it was calling "Tracy....buy me, together we will make fabulous bread". After a bit of wheeling and dealing with the seller, the bread maker was mine.  Here is the lovely Breadman Ultimate Plus herself...

It was so clean inside and out all it needed was a wipe down and for me to download instructions since the seller didn't have those.

The next day I tried it out using the recipe and instructions from that blog. I love it when something comes out just like it is supposed to! That night we enjoyed warm slices with bread and jam, mmmmmm. 

The boys even wanted their school lunches made with the homemade bread. When I was a kid I was always embarrassed to take homemade items in my lunch. I know...what a silly girl I was. I tell you though, the dark German rye bread sandwich and a side of apple paled in comparison to the peanut butter and banana sandwiches and Twinkies my friends had. No one ever traded with me. Never. I am glad my boys know that homemade=better most of the time. 

We ate that loaf up so fast there was no time to take photos. So here is a shot of loaf #2. I let it rise a tad too high but no harm done. It tasted delicious. I am just giddy over the whole process. The bread maker makes the prep so easy it is sure to be repeated often. Baking the bread in the oven gives it better taste I think and lets me control the loaf shape. The loaf looks normal, not bread maker shaped.

Since stamping is kind of out of the question right now, I am using my creativity in a new way. Stay tuned for more on that!

Cereal Taste Test 2013

I seriously don't know where the year went since our last post. Much has certainly transpired. I guess we were so busy living the craziness that we didn't have time to blog about it. Perhaps some day we will blog about moving, selling our house, resigning jobs, starting in new schools and jobs and various other "are you crazy?" events that we have experienced lately. Honestly, it is all too overwhelming to think about, let alone blog about. So, for now just know we are well. Greg is once again away for school, his last session...praise the Lord!
The boys and I sat down for a cereal taste test and got a laugh when we realized that was the theme of our last post. Must be the time of year companies release new cereals, who knew?! And it means January must be a really slow month with not much to do, lol.
Companies usually make great coupons available when new products are released and this time was no exception. All the General Mills cereals we tested were free after sale and coupon. The Kellogg's were between .60-1.00 a box.
Because inquiring taste buds want to know, here are the results from our new cereal taste test...again we rated them on a scale of 1-10, 10 being best.

Scooby Doo scored 4, 5, 9

Cinnamon Jacks scored 6, 7, 7

Mini Wheats Crunch scored 4, 5, 6

Fiber One Chocolate scored 6, 9, 9

Honey Nut Cheerios Medley scored 7, 7, 9

Peanut Butter Toast Crunch scored 7, 7, 9

Fiber One wins this round. To be fair, I am not really a big cereal fan. The mood has to strike just right for me to eat cereal but the boys practically live on the stuff so they balance me out. My personal fav was the new Honey Nut Cheerios but you can tell by the scores that none of them was a complete bust. That is a good thing since we have a big stash of free/cheap cereal that will be getting us through the winter.

Now that your life is complete with the aforementioned information, we promise to post again before the next release of new cereals hits the store shelves.

Mmmm....Cereal

After more than 6 months of silence here on the family blog, this will seem like an odd post but we have to start somewhere. I hope to catch you up but I have learned to not make promises I may not be able to keep.

One of the things keeping me busy is couponing and trying to do magic with the family food budget. It is a game to see how many food/household/cleaning/toiletry items I can get for the least amount of money out of pocket. Today was a good day at the grocery store. Here is a photo of some of the things we purchased.

Yes, those are 20 boxes of cereal. On http://www.coupons.com/  there are several .75 coupons for new cereals from General Mills. They happen to be on sale this week at Tops for 2.50 a box so after doubling the coupons, they are only $1 a box. That is a stock up price in our house since the 3 guys are rather addicted to cereal. Tops also had 8oz POM juice for $1 a bottle, free after $1 coupons in today's paper (as well as some a few weeks ago and some on-line). I also purchased 14 Hot Pockets Snackers, .50 each (free after $1/2 internet printable coupons) and 4 yogurt packs for lunches.

Total retail of my shopping trip today $142.60 (gulp!!)

Total paid $24.60

83% savings 

I also earned another .40/per gallon off our gas by using so many coupons. We are up to $1.10 off a gallon so far.

I average between 50%-65% off most trips so this was indeed a good day.

Greg left today for another round of classes in Charlotte so the boys and I had a taste test of the 3 new cereals by GM. 

On a scale of 1-10...

Frosted Toast Crunch scored a 5, 7, 7

Dulce de Leche Cheerios scored a 6, 5, 5

Mulitgrain Cheerios with Peanut Butter scored all 8's!

None of them horrible, which is good since we have several boxes of each, lol. The Multigrain Cheerios with PB was by far the favorite. Not a strong PB taste and a nice crunch.

With a new year ahead of us, it is a good time to set some savings goals. I will be trying to tighten our food budget by another $25-$50 a week in the months ahead. I think I can...