I need this as a ring tone

I've been going through old digital photos and videos. I came across this taken back in 2007. It's my Madeline as a baby laughing.

This is the sweetest sound ever!

You can't help but smile!

Mother Natures Before and After

When we purchased our country home we made our decision based on the potential of the property.

If the house and land were 100% perfect it would have been way out of our price range.

My husband and I took a risk and in one area it paid off! The best part this improvement didn't cost a thing.

This was our pond when we bought the house. Completely bone dry.

Can you even see it?

It looks like a hill. This is a photo I took this morning. It's full! I couldn't get too close because of all the rain. The total size of the pond is about an acre. It's about 5 ft deep at this point.
I'm very excited after several good rains to have our pond holding water. This is the major reason we picked this property.

We had visions of a little paddle boat and the kids fishing in our backyard.

I'm like a kid on Christmas morning! I was so excited last night when it kept raining and raining.

Winter Burgers

On a lighter note.... my last post was pretty heavy. Thank you for your great comments. I feel very passionate about raising good daughters, I've got 3 of them.

Here in North Texas we've been lucky with some summer like weather.

Yesterday it was 83! Crazy for mid-January.

When the temperatures rise.... it's grill time!

I discovered some wonderful burger seasoning. It's only $1 and it's AMAZING!

I've tried all kinds of burger recipes but nothing beats this seasoning pack.

It's super easy, just mix in with 1 pound of ground beef and make into patties then grill.

I HATE the feel of mixin up raw meat so I always wear disposable plastic gloves.

YUM!

This isn't my photo but sure looks ready for a summer grilling party!

If you don't have warm temps don't worry you can broil burgers in your oven or put in a frying pan. Still good just missing a bit of the smoky flavor.

Menu Monday

After a long busy weekend. I feel like doing this....

Monday's are only 2nd to Fridays.

Monday the kids head back to school, husband back to work and me back on schedule.

I don't know about you but Monday's are recovery of my house and my mind! It's always a nice peaceful start of the week.

Let's talk about food. Here's what's for dinner at my casa.

Monday

Mexican Lasagna click here for my recipe

Tuesday

Crockpot Ravioli (super easy)! Take a bag of frozen rav and a can of your favorite spaghetti sauce. Toss in the crockpot frozen and cook on low for 3 hours. Top with some mozz cheese for a few and ready! This is one of our activities night. We get home around 7pm from basketball practice. Dinners ready right when we get home.

Wednesday

Frozen Pizza night. I do a lot of driving Wednesday night, my husband helps out and makes pizza. We get frozen cheese pizza and add our own toppings. I get home and pizza's ready! I didn't mention we can't order pizza we're too far out in the country. BUMMER!

Thursday

Make your own Sandwiches and pasta salad

Friday

Burger Friday, I shared my recipe yesterday. Yum!

A Must Read for Moms, My Eyes are Open

WARNING THIS IS CONTROVERSIAL!

MOMS please read!! It's time your eyes were opened. I was shocked to learn.

Let's talk ladies, candidly. This has nothing to do with being frugal or fabulous just an honest mom to mom talk, heart to heart.

I'm a 30 something mom of 3 girls. Back in the early 90's I enjoyed teen magazines such as TEEN and Seventeen. They had pop quizzes, make up and fashion tips. When the topic of sex was brought up it was all about waiting and abstinence.

Well it's 2012 and its changed. Don't be naive about what your daughters are looking at and reading. This is a copy of a Cosmo cover. Because of copyright I won't show the label.

UMMMM, yeah..... completely inappropriate even for me a 34 year old women.

This sure sounds pornographic to me. Since when has the V word and sex tips become mainstream available right at the check out lane. No black cover just for our young girls and boy to see at the grocery lane.

Our girls are bombarded with the same message by the media, let's review:

Pop stars: Lady Gaga, read this She's way worse than Madonna ever was. They all tell the kids the same thing, sex is great and do it with whoever and wherever. When was the last time you saw a music video, I'll recap orgy's, sex and more sex. It's not the same MTV (except if your watching Taylor Swift she's the one exception).

The internet: have you ever checked your google searches. An innocent word can bring up porn. Most kids get Internet on their phone. My teen has seen all kinds of things at school on other people's phones. Youtube is a kids favorite. Does your child have a computer in a public space or a private one with Internet in their room. Have you ever checked their Internet history. It's porn at their fingertips. I'm not even going into sexting.

TV: The most popular network TV shows are :Glee (features openly gay characters and shows making out of same sex, not to mention the complete disrespect of adults by minors) Modern Family (A happy gay couple raising a child, a young sexy mom married to an unattractive older man, and a dysfunctional heterosexual couple (the only natural couple is a mess go figure) America's Got Talent (has recently brought on Howard Stern as a judge, that was considered a family show that has gotten edgier each season from a little opera star to a male pole dancer in drag) Let's just say The Bachelor looks family friendly compared to these shows.

With all the forces against us how are we to raise good moral girls? Even if your a mother on the more liberal scale do you want your daughter sexually active at a young age with multiple partners? The media world says it's ok. If it feels good do it. Don't think your elementary girls don't see this too. Moms, were not stupid

Your daughters and sons are in your home need the moral compass to be set. If you don't tell them the truth and be open look what the world will tell them. It might be hard and you WILL have resistance but it's your responsibility. God intrusted YOU to raise your kids. Even if you avoid the consequences now you will be held accountable at some point.

Moms, we must put a stop to the smut and teach our girls they are beautiful and worthy. They are not sex toys and objects. The world wants a baseball or basketball to have more purpose then our daughters to these young boys.

I found a wonderful site to help do something. Check out Project inspired.

MOMS I KNOW YOUR OUT THERE!!! Church attendance is up and so many proclaim to be Christian. Please raise your voice and teach your daughters right. Don't think your daughter isn't involved and doesn't see this. She does it's EVERYWHERE!

You can do it, spend some time in quiet reflection and think about what you say and do. Who does your child spend the most time with. Do they have the same ideals, rules, expectations.

Think about it and say a little pray for your eyes to be open and for God to give you the graces you need to be a good mother. Most of all love your children and show them pure love.

Joy my Word of the Year

Layla over at The Lettered Cottage is hosting a word of the year party.

I saw it and just knew my word:

Such a simple word, but so elusive at times.

Joy doesn't cost anything. It's with you at every moment. It only needs you to look for it.

The world is full of joy but it's the easiest thing to loose.




I'm working hard to see the joy in the little things I do each day....

Cleaning up after my family, there can be joy. The kids had a fun time making the mess remember their joyous face!

Enjoying the time in the morning they won't always be little.

When I make lunches leaving a little note for them.

Slowing down and enjoying the quiet time when the kids are at school and the others are napping.

When I tuck the kids in at night taking a moment to relish the time.

My youngest daughters middle name is Joy. When I picked that name I wanted to be reminded when I see her to think of the joys in life.

Children are filled with Joy and happiness. Life is full of joys. We must look for them each day and take them in.

Family Time

I've been MIA a bit on my blog. We've been busy around here.

We've had Christmas break movie sleepovers at home. Santa brought Will a skateboard.... praying for no broken bones. You can see Kate in the background, the teenager is most interested in trendy stuff.

My little cowboy is growing up.

So is my littlest baby. She finally started walking at 17 months old. Scooting and being carried is much faster than walking. She's a smart one!

Madeline showed off her acting skills in the church Christmas pageant. She's the little lamb with the baby stuffed lamb in front of her face. My girl got shy, but she was so darn cute!

We took a family trip minus the baby to the symphony to see the in real life Von Trapp family singers. Our favorite movie is The Sound of Music. They were amazing!

Madeline made muffin tin crayons. Sporting her favorite shirt. My "vintage Jennifer" strawberry shortcake shirt.

We're doing homeschool pre-school this is one of our projects.

I had the honor of attending a mother/ daughter luncheon at my oldest daughters high school. I'm so proud of the young lady she has become.

I might not be busy blogging but I'm busy around the house.

We are working on some new projects on our country house:

we refinished the barn floor

painted the downstairs barn walls

ripped out some front dead landscaping

relocated a frog farm from the koi pond to the big pond

I'm very anxious to do some big projects like my kitchen and library. For now we have a big empty room that functions as a running track for the kids!