This was my first time swapping and I had such a wonderful swap buddy. I just wanted to thank the The Homeschool Post for having this wonderful idea and implementing it. Kelli (my swap buddy), sent me some great stuff for the kiddos and some yummy green tea for me (because lately, I have been a green tea fanatic).

Here is the list of our goodies:

1. Pomegranate Green Tea – delicious
2. Crayons – Cause you can never have enough, especially when my two year old breaks them into little bits every chance she gets.
3. “A busy Cow’s ABC’s” – book
4. A sticker book – Kelli has no idea what she has done here.  My sugar plum fairy is a sticker queen, I am sure she would walk around every day covered head to toe in stickers.
5. “Worlds greatest Bible Stories and Songs” -DVD
6. Foam Art Craft Set – Time to bring out the stick glue…
7. “Songs for Saplings” – CD (not pictured) – great music designed to teach little ones the Word of God as they study their ABC’s

I just wanted to thank Kelli again for the great conversations, even if they were via email and all of the prayers. Thanks to The Homeschool Post, for letting me meet and hopefully make a lifetime friend.

This is a our current favorite paper airplane. It is really simple to make and my four and two year old love flying them around the house. You start out with a regular 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper.

Then, fold it in half.

Open it back up and fold down a right and left corner to the middle of the piece of paper, where you made the crease from folding it in half.

Next, take that and fold it down to where the point from the top of the paper is almost reaching the bottom. Leave about an inch between the bottom of the paper and the point.

Now, take the left and right corners again and fold them to the middle crease just like you did earlier.

Next, there should be the small point under your folds facing down toward the bottom of the paper. Take that point and fold it up and over your previous folds. This makes those previous folded corners stay down.

Now, flip it over and fold it in half.

You can leave it like this or you can fold the corners down one more time.

And, your finished airplane looks like this.

Have you ever had lime build up on your dishes in your dishwasher? At first I thought the dishes were just not getting clean or that the dishwasher was throwing grime and remnants back up onto the dishes. So, I went online and searched for how to clean my dishwasher. There were so many different methods, but I ended up trying a vinegar rinse cycle and adding lemon juice to the detergent dispenser. Neither of these helped at all. I was embarrassed for people to come over and see my dishes. It was terrible. I thought well since they are not getting clean in the dishwasher than I will just have to start hand washing them all again. Do you know that lime build up just does not come off easily at all? I soaked those dishes for two days in my sink with bleach and still nothing. I was getting a little irritated and just plain lost as to what else to do. I was afraid that I was going to have to buy all new glasses and throw my old ones away. My last resort was trying Lemi-Shine, and oh my freaking goodness it worked like a charm. I am so not at all affiliated with this company or trying to sell this product in anyway. I just truly love it. So, I wanted to share it with all of you.

The ball jars on the left are my ones that I soaked for two days in bleach and were still coated with lime. The one on the right of the Lemi-Shine is after just one wash of using the Lemi-Shine. It looked exactly like the ones on the left before I used the Lemi-Shine. Thank the Lord for whoever created this product especially for those of us who live on limestone infested ground.

After proof reading this post, I thought, “Wow, how many times can one person use the word Lemi-Shine in one post”?.

The kids loved our family breakfast tea. I highly recommend doing this with your children. Its super easy and they just love it, plus it is absolutely adorable watching them eat and drink from their little tea cups and plates.

This time we had aunts and uncles to share our tea with. (Sugar plum fairy with her Uncle)

And cousins! (My little old man with his cousin)

Did you notice the tiny feet in the last picture? Our youngest (we’ll call him smiley, cause seriously that’s all he does) finally made it into a post.

Rockvale Art Gallery, is having their Grand Opening on March 19th, 2011. Please come join us as we cut the ribbon and begin a new journey into local Tennessee culture.

Rockvale Art Gallery, LLC is a unique Gallery located in a rustic old barn in Middle Tennessee, showcasing various forms of artistic expression. Their goal is to provide their customers with a relaxing, whimsical environment in which to view and purchase art, antiques, home decor and Interior Design Services. The Gallery offers a step into the past as well as a view of the future. The Gallery’s Artist’ are local, multi-talented, working professionals.

The mission of the Rockvale Art Gallery, LLC is to provide an enjoyable experience as well as a piece of art, jewelry, or home decor to suit every taste and budget.

Rockvale Art Gallery Owner – Paula Francis

Ever wonder what the colors of the tie tags on loaves of bread represent? They’re a code designating the day of the week on which a loaf was baked:

* Blue: Monday
* Green: Tuesday
* Red: Thursday
* White: Friday
* Yellow: Saturday[...]

An easy way to remember it, though, is to simply recall the alphabet. The colors run in alphabetical order, so the earlier they appear in the alphabet, the earlier in the week the bread was baked. And it’s true. Even the ever-cynical Snopes.com backs it up.

Ratatouille is normally a summer time favorite in our house. The majority of the ingredients you can pick right out of your own garden or get at a local farmers market. If you do have to buy all of your items at the grocery store, normally you can get all of them for under $20. Plus, some of the ingredients you can use again for other meals. In the summer I have made this meal for around $4.00 for the whole family and had leftovers. My husband was craving this dish the other day, so I thought why not share one of our favorites with you.

Ingredients:

2-3 Zucchini
2-3 Yellow summer squash
3-5 Whole tomatoes
1 Large purple onion
1 Package of Kielbasa
Olive Oil or Butter
Italian Seasoning
Salt
Pepper
Crushed Garlic
Chicken Stock

Directions:

I start first by getting out my mandoline (and play a little tune, jk) and use it to cut up my vegetables. I highly recommend a mandoline, because it takes half the time to get all of the vegetables cut up. ( I purchased my mandoline from Pampered Chef)

This is how my slices look after cutting them up. I haven’t measured them to know their thickness, but I would say around an 1/8 of an inch. I do all of them close to this size so that they lay and stack nice in my pot.

Once, I have all of my veggies cut up, it is time to start layering them in my pot. I use a cast iron dutch oven because I love how cast iron helps to flavor my cooking, plus to me they are durable and easy to take care of. Although, I would guess that it would turn out well in any pot you decide to cook yours in.

I take a little of every vegetable and some kielbasa and layer the bottom of the pot.

Between each layer I add the other ingredients. I shake a little pepper, salt, and Italian seasoning over them. Then I sprinkle a 1/2 a tablespoon of garlic on each layer (if you really love garlic, then you may want to add more). I drizzle some olive oil and chicken stock and then your ready for the next layer.

When, you are close to getting to the top of your pot you may notice that you have an excess of one vegetable or the other and this is when your pretty layers become jumbled. If you are a perfectionist then save those veggies for some other yummy dish or you can do as I do and just stuff them on top. Who cares right? All of the flavors are going to meld together anyway into to this hodgepodge of mouth watering goodness.

Mine always sticks up a little bit higher than the rim of the pot, but I put the lid on it anyway, because it will cook down some in the oven.

Now, you preheat the oven to 400 degrees and cook for 45 mins to 1 hour. This is what mine looks like after it is done cooking.

Enjoy! We did.

(I took the previous picture after all of the family had their share, the Ratatouille does not cook down that much)

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Has anyone ever heard of these guys; Thread Up, and whether or not they are reputable. I am curious, just because I do have quite a few clothes that I would love to swap or sell.

Well, I had important company coming to the house, (Geek Adonis’ family) so I had to make something delectable. It was so yummy and absolutely perfect. Everyone loved it. So, if you have lots of company coming or just really want to impress your DH, I highly suggest trying this recipe. Plus, it has an entire package of bacon in it, who can refuse that?

Ingredients

1/4 cup butter
1 onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 (12-ounce) package bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 (5-ounce) package grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 (5-pound) pork loin roast

Directions

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently; or until tender. Stir in spinach; cook for 3 minutes. Add bacon, Parmesan, salt, and pepper, stirring until cheese is melted; set aside.

Butterfly pork loin by making a lengthwise cut down the bottom third of 1 flat side, cutting to within 1 inch of other side. From bottom of cut, slice horizontally to 1/2 inch from left side; repeat procedure on right side. Open pork loin, and flatten to 1/2 inch thickness, using a meat mallet. Trim uneven edges to make a clean rectangle.

Spread spinach mixture over loin, leaving a 1/2 border. Roll up pork, jelly roll fashion, starting with long side. Tie at 2-inch intervals with heavy butcher’s twine (if you do not have butcher’s twine, dental floss will work).

Preheat oven to 475 degrees.

Place pork loin on a lightly greased rack in a shallow roasting pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 325 degrees; cover and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion reaches 155 degrees. Let stand for 10 minutes before slicing.