Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving from me to you! Have a blessed day! Feeling very thankful for my family today!

Manda

Meal Planning Made Easy

As of late, I have been having a hard time coming up with dinner ideas. All I can come up with is the same old, same old but I'm craving variety. Another dilemma is what to have for sides. Meat, potatoes and a veggie are just not cutting it these days. I've decided that I would make a list of all the entrees we enjoy along with ideas for sides and make a mix and match worksheet. The possibilities for meals would be endless. It's also an easy way to get all the food groups included in one meal. However, I didn't leave a space for dairy; we typically have a glass of milk or include cheese in our meal somehow. Other ways to add dairy would be to have a small bowl of cottage cheese or yogurt.

This list will make weekly meal planning and grocery shopping much easier.  I have looked through many blogs trying to find the right meal planning worksheet. Many of those included the grocery list on the actual meal plan. For me that just doesn't work so I decided to make all the worksheets separate.

The worksheets aren't anything pretty. I made them simple and straight forward. I wanted something that wasn't overly complicated and would suit my family's needs. I can print what I need and stick it to the inside of my cupboard for the rest of my family to see. I typically write two grocery lists. One to add to during the week and another to rewrite before grocery shopping. I like things to be in order and I usually shop at a few different grocery stores so having more than one lists makes it easier.


Get the forms here:
Dinner Mix & Match
Grocery List
Weekly Meal Planner


Enjoy!
Manda

30 days of Thankfulness

 In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I've decided to make a list of things that I am thankful for in my life. I don't typically do this but I really should start. It's easy to forget the things that one is blessed to have by dwelling on the hard things in life. Every day is a gift and everyone can find at least one thing to be thankful for on any given day. I challenge you to find thirty things you are thankful for this Thanksgiving season.

1. I am thankful for my husband. He's my best friend and I can't imagine my life without him. He's my rock and I am so glad that he waltzed into my crazy life. It hasn't always been easy but I'm glad he's the one who is by my side through every high and every low.

2. I am thankful for my daughter. She is such an amazing, beautiful little girl. I can't believe she is the one God blessed us with, but I'm happy he did.

3. I am thankful for my home. It was a struggle for us to be able to buy our housee. When we did, we found the perfect fit for our family. It may be small but it hold so much love.

4. I am thankful for my parents. I wouldn't be where I am today without them. I am so glad they're my parents.

5. I am thankful for my brother. He was my first best friend and I'm lucky to have him as my brother. I am so proud of the man he is today. Even after all the hardships, he's turned into a wonderful person.

6. I am thankful for my grandparents. They have helped us through some tough times and I honestly don't know where we would be without them.

7. I am thankful for my in-laws. I love them all so much! This includes not only Chris' family but my new sister-in-law on my side of the family. I'm such a lucky girl to have all these extra family members in my life.

8. I am thankful for my job. It has been a joy to be able to get to know some new people and have some much needed adult conversation.

9. I am thankful for my husbands job. He is a hard working man who has sacrificed a lot to provide for our family.

10. I am thankful for my health. I have been lucky not to have had any big health issues and I pray I won't ever have any.

11. I am thankful for my Faith. It has gotten me through my darkest times and lifted me up in my brightest.

12. I am thankful for the holidays. I love any excuse to get together with those I love most to celebrate.

13. I am thankful for my birthday. Another year older, another year wiser.

14. I am thankful for good books. One of my all time favorite pass times. The perfect way to escape after a hard days work.

15. I am thankful for Pinterest. Cheesy, I know, but it gives me a lot of the ideas I like to post about as well as ideas for feeding my family, fun things to do with my daughter and husband, and creative ideas for decorating my home.

16. I am thankful for my baking abilities. I may be thankful for this a little too much...especially around the holidays :)

17. I am thankful for good music. Even on a bad day, music can brighten any mood. Singing in the car is one of my favorite things to do.

18. I am thankful for this life. I love the life I'm living and I wouldn't change it for anything. Ups and downs make it interesting.

19. I am thankful for my childhood. We didn't have a lot of money growing up but we were rich with love and memories. I love reminiscing on the days when we would go camping, swimming in the lake, riding bikes, and spending time with my family.

20. I am thankful for my dog. He's the protector of the family and I am thankful he was around when my husband was on the road working. He makes my nights feel a lot safer.

21. I am thankful for my country. I am proud to be an American! I can honestly say I wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

22. I am thankful for our countries veterans. I have known so many people who have been and are currently in the armed forces including my amazing father.

23. I am thankful for warm, fuzzy, cuddles with my two favorite people.

24. I am thankful for the people I have met and those I will meet in the future. I haven't always liked or agreed with them all but everyone has taught me something.

25. I am thankful that I got to be a stay-at-home mommy for the first two years of my daughters life. It was an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade. It was difficult some times but I loved being able to have so much one on one time with her.

26. I am thankful for quiet weekends at home. We have done our fair share of weekend trips to our families houses (who live 3-5 hours away...one way) that sometimes it nice just to stay home and relax.

27. I am thankful for good people. I have met so many genuinely good people who have helped/supported me and/or my husband through some tough obstacles. They may not have always physically helped us, but by being in our corner, talking us through things has been a gift.

28. I am thankful for my iPhone. It's a little petty but it's important to me. It's the way I stay connected to the people I love most especially since I don't get to see them everyday.

29. I am thankful for my comfy bed. I love cold mornings where I get to snuggle in my blankets. Best feeling ever!

30. I am thankful for happy memories.


Manda

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from my family to your's!

Manda

New Years Eve Wishing Wall

_{Photo Credit: Ian Wallace - Time Square The official site of Time Square}

A couple of weeks ago, my manager and I were talking about her dream visit to Time Square in New York City on New Years Eve. She went on to tell me about the wishing wall that allows people to write down their wishes on an official piece of confetti. Towards the end of the year all the wishes are collected and added to the confetti that is released at midnight on New Years Eve.

The best part...you don't actually have to be there to have your wish included in the confetti that is dropped! Through the Time Squares official website you can find information on where and when you can write down your wishes as well as a link to the form you can fill out to virtually send your wish.

If you are lucky to be able to physically write down your wish, you can find the wishing wall at the Time Square Museum & Visitor Center. You can write them down from 8AM - 8PM 7 days a week.

We are looking forward for this to become a yearly family tradition!

Manda

Fall Cleaning

My husband and I have recently started our yearly fall cleaning. Fall cleaning is just as important as Spring cleaning. Fall cleaning also entails winterizing our home. Because we live in an area that sees snow and below zero weather every winter we have to take extra measures to be sure the exterior of our home is in ship shape condition.  The interior of the home needs to be tended to as well.  The Happier Homemaker has an awesome checklist for fall cleaning. Depending on where you live you may need to add a few things to that list.

The Happier Homemaker has a pdf that you can download for free!

Enjoy!
Manda

50 Things to do at Christmas Time

So for the past month I have been  compiling a list of things for my family and I to do during the holiday season. My husband has worked out of town for the past two holiday seasons so we are really excited for him to finally be home this year! I can finally plan the month or so instead of winging it (I am a type A person so this is very irritating)!

I've gather quite a few things from different blogs I've found. A lot of them had the same ideas so I thought I would just make one gigantic list. I will eventually narrow it down to just the 25 days of Christmas but I wanted to give myself options.

In no particular order:

1. Christmas Lights Tour. I'm hoping this year that J will like looking at all the Christmas lights around town. I've come across a few ideas that have incorporated a "Polar Express" theme. I'm thinking this year J is a little young for that but in the next couple of years it will be a fantastic idea! You can check out Confessions of a Homeschooler blog for the details as well as cool printable train tickets.

2. Bake cookies or other Christmas goodies. This is a pretty typical holiday tradition and it's definitely one of my favorite. I enjoy baking goodies for my family to enjoy especially when the lot of us get together. I like to try new recipes every year. Last year I made Peanut Butter Chocolate Christmas Bark which was amazing!

3. Make and decorate a gingerbread house. I for one do not go all crazy and make a homemade gingerbread house. I just get the store bought ones and put them together.

4. Visit Santa. I've been lucky the past two years with J. She hasn't cried when visiting him but I am a little scared this year might be different. Fingers crossed she won't get scared and cry. Last year, we had the opportunity to visit Santa at the Mall of America. He was amazing! You can visit their website to make an appointment.

5. Buy and donate toys to Toys for Tots. Check out the Toys for Tots website for drop off sites or ways to donate money!

6. Make reindeer food. We call it Puppy Chow every other day of the year but adding red and green M&M's to the mix makes it reindeer food :)

7. Make homemade ornaments. There are hundreds of ideas for different homemade ornaments on Pinterest and Google.

8. Go on a sleigh ride. We are lucky to live in the northern half of the United States where we get snow. There is a farm just north of us that offers sleigh rides during the Christmas season. Looking forward to the beautiful winter scenery.

9. Make a paper chain advent calendar. This is a easy way to involve toddlers. It's as simple as tearing off a piece of paper each day. I hang mine from the ceiling in a the corner of the kitchen for everyone to see.

10. Write Santa a letter. Apparently, you can mail your letter to North Pole, AK and have it sent back to your home with the North Pole Postmark. The Postal Service has information on where and how to do this. You can also check out this adobe file for even more information.

11. Watch holiday movies. This is a favorite in our family. ABC Family has a pretty good lineup of Christmas movies with their 25 Days of Christmas. Hallmark Channel usually has a new Christmas movie every weekend starting at the beginning of November with their Countdown to Christmas. You can watch the Charlie Brown movies on ABC and you can always watch Elf on TBS.

12. Read holiday books. A family favorite is "The Polar Express". While researching, I found an idea that I would like to start this year. Santa delivers a Christmas book with matching movie, new Christmas pajamas and a Christmas goodie on Christmas Eve. I combined a few ideas I found on Pinterest from KatherineMaries.com,  Big D & Me and The Imagination Tree.

13. Set out cookie & milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer.

14. Make special homemade cards for cousins.

15. Mail a Christmas card to a soldier. You can do this through Red Cross'  program called Holiday Mail for Heroes. There are some guidelines so be sure to read through them on their website.

16. Give food to your local food shelf. This is an excellent way to give back. Be sure to check the expiration dates on the food you want to donate.

17. Prepare Christmas morning breakfast. My family and I will finally be at our home for Christmas so I am really excited to make a special Christmas morning breakfast for us to enjoy after opening gifts.

18. Have a random acts of kindness day. This is a wonderful way to teach children the value of helping the community and what the true spirit of Christmas is. Courtney Defeo has 100 Random Acts of Kindness ideas with her Light 'Em Up Plan.

19. Make homemade gifts for teachers. I don't have a school aged child yet but it's still an excellent idea. Show the teachers in your children's lives how much they are appreciated.

20. Make a snowman. Again we are lucky to live in a snowy state so I'm super excited to get out there and make one. I'm still a kid at heart!

21. Make paper snowflakes. This was one of my favorite things to do as a child. It's a simple and inexpensive way to add holiday cheer to any ones home.

22. Go sledding. This is along the lines of building a snowman.

23. Sleep under the Christmas tree. Nothing better than the glow of a Christmas tree while your drifting off to sleep.

24. Elf of the Shelf. I haven't done this yet but we will be starting the tradition this year. Pinterest is chalk full of ideas for the elf's daily visit.

25. Leave shoes out for St. Nick's on December 6th! I have heard of this growing up being of Scandinavian and German decent but we never actually did it. I want to start this tradition with our children. One Charming Party describes it a little bit but you can surely find more information about it by Googleing it.

26. Make Christmas Crafts.  This can be as simple as a Christmas themed coloring page to homemade Christmas gifts. The skies the limit.

27. Get gifts for siblings and cousin from the dollar store. This is a nice inexpensive way of teaching your children the gift of giving.

28. Donate unused toys to a local thrift store. It's a wonderful time of year to have the kids clean out their toys and get rid of ones they won't use anymore. Not only will it benefit others in need and teach them the value of giving but it will also make room for the toys they will eventually be receiving.

29. See Santa feed the reindeer on the Reindeer Cam. From November 16 to December 24th he feeds the reindeer at 10am, 5pm and 8pm (Central Time).  You can also send a letter to Santa and your children's names get put on a scrolling nice list that can be seen on the video. You can also donate money to feed the reindeer to get put on the nice list. If you aren't home their is an App for your phone so you and your children can watch Santa anywhere!

30. Write and send Christmas letters to family and friends. I have been doing this ever since my husband and I got together. It's my favorite thing to do and I love receiving them. It's a great way to let those family members and friends you don't see very often know what your family has been up to during the year. Be sure to include a recent photo!

31. Go Christmas caroling. Every year some people from our church go caroling to the local nursing homes. 

32. Go to a local Holiday Parade. One of these days I would love to make it to the Holidazzle Parade in Minneapolis, MN.

33. Santaland! Macy's 8th Floor has an awesome display of Santa's Workshop. It's completely free. You can visit Santaland in New York, Philadelphia, Minneapolis, Seattle, Pittsburgh, Portland, Chicago from November to December.

34. Go to a Christmas Eve church service.

35. Set up a Nativity scene. My first Christmas as a married woman my mom gave me a part of the Willow Tree Nativity set. She has given me a piece every year since. Last year she gave me the last piece to complete my set. To my surprise, Willow Tree came out with new additional pieces! I absolutely love it and it reminds me of my mother every time I put it out. It's an amazing keepsake that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

36. Do family photos every year. I'm a photo freak! I love taking pictures and having pictures taken. Every year we get together with my favorite photographer and do family pictures. Not only it is a great way to document the growth of your family; they are excellent gifts for grandparents, aunts and uncles.

37. Decorate the house! I go all out with decorating for Christmas. It's my favorite time of the year so why wouldn't I?!

38. Decorate the Christmas tree. I put our Christmas tree up a week or so before Thanksgiving. I feel the need to make the Christmas season last as long as I can.

39. Find Christmas related activities in your area. Every year the Christmas train stops at a near buy town. The Christmas train is decorated with lights and stops so Santa can visit. A local Bonanza Farm puts on a Christmas related event for children. They can visit Santa, decorate cookies, etc. You can usually find these events by going to your Chamber of Commerce website and looking into their calendar of events.

40. Go to a Christmas concert, play or theatrical performance.

41. Go to a local churches Christmas play or musical. They are really cute and if you belong to a church it's fun to watch your own children.

42. Create a Christmas playlist or CD to listen to. Pandora is my favorite thing to listen to. I like the variety of artists and songs.

43. Participate in Operation Christmas Child. This is a great charity where you can package up a shoebox with goodies for a child in a third world country. They suggest a $7 donation to cover shipping costs. Check out their website for guidelines regarding what you can and cannot send. You can find a list of suggested items as well as instructions on how to package the shoebox and where to drop them off.

44. If you like having a real tree, visit and cut down your own tree at a local tree farm.

45. Read the story of Jesus' birth.

46. Have the grandparents take the kids to buy Christmas gifts for mom and dad.

47. The Spouse Christmas Countdown. You can make a 25 days of Christmas for your spouse. I got the idea from The Dating Diva blog.

48. This idea is a little naughty and not child friendly. This is definitely an adult only idea, but you could do the 12 Lays of Christmas for your spouse. Love Actually has all the print outs and poems for this. I won't give the details, you'll have go to the blog for that :)

49. Play Christmas themed games. Check out these links for Christmas Charades, Family Feud, Pictionary, and Jeopardy.

50. Personalize at-home Santa pictures. Capture the Magic is a great website where you can take a picture of your living room and insert Santa. Not only can you capture Santa, you can capture the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy. You can make 3 photos for $9.95.

Hope you enjoy! I know I will!