Our Drive Up North

We borrowed Kathy's van to make the trek to Indiana for Christmas. Airfare being what it was plus having two creatures (no, I don't mean the kids) that would cost hundreds of dollars to kennel, we decided to drive. Michael was not to thrilled with idea but in the end he said the trip went better than expected. Here are some photos from the drive to Indy.

Before...

After...

Notice the five black bags from the middle to the left side? That's my craft stuff I thought I would get to work on while away. HA! Better to plan ahead and take it than have to buy all new stuff while there, right?! Wait a minute, I just got an idea....

Ready to go?

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This was the price of gas at a station outside our subdivision the day we left, December 27th.

We actually got gas for $1.14 at the Kroger's just a bit further down the road.

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Rocket did not enjoy the trip. It was a traumatic experience for him. He shed like crazy and everything was covered in fur. Thank goodness for lint rollers. Every time we stopped he tried to bolt out; he even did it at drive-thrus when the window was down. His favorite place was on my lap while I drove. Otherwise, he slept on the luggage in back.

Piper slept here most of the trip--at the kids' feet.


Hope you enjoyed these; I'll post more later. We miss everyone back home. Y'all need to plan a trip to the South. We'll put you up at Chez Ward, chauffeur you around and take you to some of our favorite Tex-Mex and Barbeque joints around Houston. Make your reservation soon!

Bad Friend/Daughter/Sister, Etc!!

I have been horrible at keeping y'all updated. Please forgive me!! It has been crazy and I have not made writing a priority. We're staying busy with homeschooling, and I recently started working out.

Michael and I are looking at university-model schools for the kids. We're planning ahead for the junior high/high school years and praying for what the Lord would have us do. Just taking the homeschooling thing one year at a time. It's enjoyable except when the kids are at each other's throats. Realizing....duh....they spend almost every waking moment together, we decided tonight to get them each into their own activity.

Bdawg played football last year but isn't involved in a sport for the Spring. We're going to get him a membership at the gym with us.

Baby Girl hasn't been involved in anything for a couple years now. She wants to learn karate; there just happens to be a mixed martial arts place down the road so we'll be checking that out this week. We also redesigned her room for her 11th birthday. It's tres chic!

Piper, the dog, is driving me crazy. She needs to learn some manners. We've had talks about appropriate affection but I don't think she gets it. She just loves to stomp on your feet or lick your toes to get attention, so we'll be taking her to obedience school soon.

Rocket, the cat, still rules the house. He lays around like he's the king, which is as it should be for cats, right?!

Last, and yes least, is Spike, the Beta. He's still alive because he doesn't get overfed...quite the opposite. Sometimes Spike goes a few days without freeze-dried worm bits. He sits on top of the fridge because Rocket tries to eat him--stuck his face right in the bowl. When we get busy, he gets neglected. Poor fish!

Oh...I almost forgot the rats. We have rats living in our backyard under the green electrical box. Our neighbor put out poison since they keep showing up in his yard to eat his dogs' food. They go through our yard to get home to die. They never make it. We've found six dead ones in the last week. How many has dear sweet hubby/dad disposed of? That' right...zero!! I've disposed of two and the kids disposed of three. (2 + 3 = 5...okay, make that five rats not six. I was just seeing if y'all were paying attention.) No, I didn't make them do it. They did this without my permission but they did use plastic bags. Good kids!

I'll have pictures to share soon.

Better Homes and Gardens Recipe Saver

In this post you will find some of my new favorite sites that are helping me keep one of my resolutions for the New Year: to reduce clutter and stay organized. The clutter has been taking over certain areas of my home for far too long. I am determined to procrastinate no longer and get in gear.

Thanks to some enterprising and ingenious folks, I am on my way to keeping this yearly resolution with the following widgets, sites, etc. (I found these in the January issues of Real Simple and Better Homes & Gardens.)

Better Homes & Gardens Recipe Widget



This widget helps you find recipes, plan meals for one day or one week, creates a shopping list based on the recipes you choose and even finds coupons for you to use at your local grocery store.

You can also visit BHG.com/cozi for an awesome calendar that helps busy families keep up with all the appointments, extracurricular activities, to-do lists, even photos and more.

Jott.com

This website is great if you seem to only remember things to do while doing something else. I suffer from this almost constantly. It's why I keep a notebook with me everywhere it seems but then I have a gazillion "lists" in several notebooks. Not conducive to reducing clutter and staying organized.

Anyway, my favorite feature about Jott.com is that it turns your voicemail into text that it then sends to you when you tell it. So if I remember a long grocery list while driving (which always seems to happen), I don't have to hope and pray for a red light to type it into my phone. I simply call the toll free number, leave my list then it transcribes my words into a text and sends it to me when I need it. How cool is that! Are you as excited as I am right now?!

Evernote.com

I have all kinds of piles...mostly stacked in my office/craft/school room. I usually know what's in them but am overwhelmed by the clutter. I have a condition that causes me to keep magazines, even from two, three, dare I say four years ago because I am sure I will forget some idea I saw or moving article I read that must be immortalized.

I have given away many to various people because I cannot just throw them away. I have to know they're going to a good home. And when I do give or throw (gasp!!!) them away, I keep a record of my favorite ideas in a separate notebook so there is still paper to stack, file, save....

With Evernote, I can stop being so OCD and let the paper go because it will store it for me online: recipes, articles, etc. No more print outs because I might not remember it later. Similar to Jott.com, it will create checklists for me. It will even store "clips" with its Webclipper.

I am sure there are many more wonderful sites like these out there. I have offered just a few of my faves. I hope they encourage, inspire and motivate you to reduce clutter and stay organized.

By the way, I will be offering a weekly post about keeping resolutions so look for it every Monday on my other blog, Crafty Texan. My goal is to keep myself accountable (no more procrastination), learn from and possibly inspire some of you. Please share your New Year's Resolutions and what you are doing to keep them.