Weekend Wrap Up

This has been a great weekend for me and the girls in St. Louis, MO. Unfortunately my hubby could not make it to St. Louis with us.....we sure miss him! But being able to come see my parents, sister, brother and some other family members from my side of the family has been a breath of fresh air. It is so nice to see my family! I talk to my mom on the phone almost everyday but it just isn't the same. Since my parents no longer live in Atlanta they do not get to see their Grandchildren as often as they would like. We are here for a little over 2 weeks and my girls are having a blast. Getting to see where my side of the family comes from (now that they are getting older to understand and remember) means a lot to me. My sister and brother-in-law live in Kansas City, MO (KC!!!--as she calls it ), which is only about 3 hours from St. Louis. So it was nice that she was able to come visit for the weekend with her busy work schedule. The weather has been great here in St. Louis! Here are a few pictures of some of our weekend activities. It was a very relaxing weekend....SO NICE! :)

My brother's baseball game.

Park in Kirkwood with the girls and Tutu

A day in the pool....

My sis :)

On our shopping excursion one day I spotted this huge Pevely Dairy truck.
My Great-Grandfather started and owned Pevely at one time before he sold it, so I just had to take a pic of it. :)

Children's Chore Box

I decided to make a chore box for my girls to help instill a sense of responsibility toward household chores. I believe this can be started when they are toddlers, even the very young toddlers feel like they are helping. I used a small shoe box and covered it with white paper. You can use an empty jar or coffee can as well and decorate as you like. Use small strips of paper and print a small job that needs to be done on each one. Very young toddlers will enjoy wiping the floor or refrigerator with a damp cloth or sponge, stacking towels in a cupboard, or picking up toys and placing them in a bucket or container. You will know the jobs your child is capable of doing with minimum supervision and assistance.

Happy Friday!!
~Paige

Wordless Wednesday

This critter rode with us on the front of our car the other day the entire trip to the store! What ever it was......it was HUGE! It looked like a giant green leaf. Lol.

MckLinky Blog Hop - Favorite Recipe or Dish

Egg Bake

This is by far one of my favorite family recipes. Make this excellent breakfast casserole recipe the night before you want to serve it, or freeze for longer storage.

Ingredients:
4 Eggs
Milk
1 teaspoon of dry mustard
7-8 slices of bread (cubed)
1 lb. Jimmy Dean Sausage (Hot)
4 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
1 can of cream of mushroom soup

Directions:
Grease cooking dish and spread 7-8 slices of cubed bread throughout dish. Cook sausage. Mix 4 eggs, 2 1/2 cups of milk and 1 teaspoon of dry mustard together in separate bowl. Spread sausage on top of bread and then pour the eggs, milk and mustard mix evenly over the sausage. Then layer 4 cups of cheddar cheese over everything. Cover dish with saran wrap and put in refrigerator over night to cook the next day.
Next Day-- pre-heat oven at 325. Mix 1/2 cup of milk and 1 can of cream of mushroom soup together and evenly pour on top throughout the dish. Now your casserole is ready to bake. Bake for 1 1/2 hours. Let cool and serve!
Enjoy!

Mexican Monday

Mexican Layered Salad

Happy Monday Amigos and Amigas!

So....I just checked the theme for the Mcklinky Blog Hop on Tuesday and it just so happens to be about your favorite recipe or dish. Since I already wrote this post about a recipe, it looks like I'll be blogging about recipes two days in a row. :)

As some of you may already know, cooking really hasn't been my "thing". And it's not that I can't do it or anything....I mean come on, it doesn't take a Rocket Scientist to cook a good meal ;). There just happens to be 10 million other things I'd rather be doing, but that doesn't mean I don't cook.....I've got two growing children and a husband to feed! Lately, I've been trying to expand my cooking horizons-believe it or not. I figure cooking something other than the measly 4 or 5 other recipes I know would be a good start. Lol. Don't get me wrong, I love my recipes, but come on.....who wants to eat the same thing every week? Not me. So... I have decided to start with basic, fun and easy recipes. If any of you have a recipe or dish you would like to share, drop me a comment and leave your recipe. I'd love to try it out! Hopefully I will learn some more recipes on Blog Hop Tuesday too! Hop on over and check out the Mcklinky list for everyone's fave recipe or dish.

This is an easy recipe I found in a local cookbook my mother-in-law gave me. I made it the other day and it was very tasty. :) To cut back on the calories and fat I used lean ground beef and light sour cream.

You will need:
~1 can refried beans
~8oz. light sour cream
~8oz. medium chunky salsa
~1lb. lean ground beef
~Ground beef seasoning (mexican flavored)
~8 oz. shredded cheese
~1 tomato diced
~Shredded lettuce
~Tortilla Chips

Directions:

In baking dish, spread the refried beans on the bottom of the dish. Combine 4 ounces of salsa with the sour cream and spread over beans. Brown and season the ground beef and spread over the sour cream mix. Add the remaining 4 ounces of salsa over the meat. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Spread lettuce over the entire dish. Add tomatoes on top (which I didn't add to mine because my husband doesn't like them, but he'll eat salsa....weird huh? Lol.). Serve with tortilla chips and vuala! Your done!

You can also make your own low-fat refried beans with this recipe I found as well. Click here: Low-fat refried beans.

~ recipe by Megan Malone / Union Hill Cookbook '09


Enjoy,

Paige

New Lilly Pulitzer Giveaway Starts Today!

I LOVE anything Lilly! Check out this new Giveaway by Lauren Nicole Gifts! The new giveaway contest starts today, July 17 2009: A Lilly Pulitzer Cosmetic Bag. Entries will be taken until midnight on Thursday July 23, 2009. A winner will be drawn and announced on Friday, July 24, 2009.CLICK HERE TO ENTER: All entries must come through the website link. The link will take you to the giveaway page on the Lauren Nicole website which lists all of the giveaway details and has a link to enter the giveaway.

Frugal Fridays

Happy friday!
OK, so I know some or most of you may already know about or use VistaPrint for your business marketing or personal use but for those of you who haven't, I would love to share them with you.
They offer personalized office supplies, paper products, etc. for businesses and personal use. Not only do I love VistaPrint but I am addicted to them! They have great deals and are always offering free products. I recently ordered stickers for my oldest daughter Brooklyn with her name on them for school. I also get all my business cards and invitations from them. To get their exclusive offers click the link above and subscribe to their mailing list.

Things I Love Thursdays - Puppy Dogs!

This week my daughters and I have been dog-sitting for my brother-in-law's cute little furball ... Jax. Brooklyn and Alli have had a blast taking him on walks and playing with him. Tomorrow he is going home and I think it's going to be harder on us then intended. :( He is such a sweetie! .......well, besides the chewed up toys and potty accidents. lol.
I grew up with a little Maltese and I LOVED LOVED LOVED her! I LOVE dogs in general, but since my husband and I already have our hands full with two little boogers of our own (Brooklyn and Alli), we "thought" we might want to wait until they got a little older to get a puppy for our family. But now I am starting to think I want one NOW!! This is going to take a whole lot of convincing from me and the girls. My fingers are crossed!

Click here:Why Pets are Good for Kids?

For more Things I Love Thursdays visit The Diaper Diaries.

Wordless Wednesday

Works For Me Wednesday - Artwork Display

Here's a way to display your child's artwork without having to clutter up your refrigerator! Most things I needed I already had. I made one for each of my daughters and spent about $5.00 to make both of them.

Things you need:

-Wooden Ruler (12-, 18-, or 24-inch)
-Glue Gun
-Clothespins, spring-type (at least 2)
-Your choice in Ribbon (optional)
-Puff Paint for your child's name
-Spray Paint (Optional)
-Sticky Tacky

Spray your ruler and clothespins with spray paint, when it dries glue ribbon of your choice across front side of ruler. Glue ribbon on each end of the back of the ruler and tie a bow at the top to hang it. I used Sticky Tacky on the back of each end of the ruler to keep it from leaning from one side to the other. Glue spring-type clothes pins to the front of the ruler so that the pins open downward. Use two clothespins for a 12-inch ruler, placing one on each end. You may want to use three or four clothespins for a longer ruler, or let your child decorate the ruler and clothespins with paint, glitter, pasta and so on. When done hang your ruler where you would love to see your child's beautiful artwork.....mud-room, laundry room, kitchen, garage, etc.

Be creative and have fun with this!