Smart Snacking

I saw this on Pinterest and knew I had to copy it...

My kids are snackers.
I try to make good decisions when shopping for their snacks.
The cheapest and most convenient snacks are typically the unhealthy ones too
so I've really had to pay attention. 

I've always kept a bowl with a mixture of easy grab foods for them.
It usually contains individually packed crackers, cookies, boxes of raisins,
fruit leather, and granola bars. I try to stay away from gummies and crap snacks.

This fridge idea opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for my little ones snacking needs.
I don't know why I didn't think of this before!

I splurged a little on the packets of apples and guacamole but I figured they were worth it. 

Although the bowl of mixed goodies stays on top of the fridge and they only get
access to it once or twice a day, this one is a little more accessible so I added baggies of
prewashed fruits and veggies so I don't feel bad about how much they decide to eat. 

If you have any ideas of convenient healthy food I can keep on hand
in our snack bowl or in our fridge box let me know!

Survey :)

I'd like to collect some responses for a future post.

Please answer the questions honestly and without cheating!

All answers are anonymous :)

Thanks!

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world's leading questionnaire tool.

Home Management Printables

I have decided to make my home management printables

FREE for everyone.

I will be working on more pages for our HMBs so keep an eye out for those.

Enjoy!

(Click the link below the picture to see the doc)

HMB Title Pages 

Daily Schedule

Bill Schedule

Expense Tracker

Menu Planner

Shopping List

 Debt Snowball Worksheet

Let Them Be Little

A few days ago, I shared this picture on my personal Facebook page...

It gave me a little bit of a reality check and since then I have been

seeing my children in a different light.

It also reminded me of a song I heard during a MOPS meeting back when

we lived in Oceanside. Our guest speaker sang "Let Them Be Little" which

was another eye-opening moment for me as a new parent.

If you haven't heard it, here's Lonestar's version...

     I'm writing this post because I want all of us parents  to remember that these babies will not be babies for long. I feel like we all need that reminder from time to time.   Don't get so caught up in raising them that you take all the fun out of being a kid!  

When my kids look back on their childhood some day, I want them to

remember the day mom let them throw Styrofoam peanuts all over the house
and then we "fed" them to Mr. Vacuum. Or the time we had ice cream sundaes for dinner because it was too hot to cook. (Hasn't happened yet, but now I think it might!)   Before we know it our kids will have to face the serious parts of life, why not let them enjoy this time while they have it? I'm really guilty of letting the tired-me get the best of me.

I get impatient, I get annoyed, they ask me to read a story or play

a game and I reply with "Not right now, Mommys tired".

 One thing my kids LOVE to do that really annoys me is they pretend the

vacuum is a monster. They stand in front of it and run away screaming when

it gets close to their feet. They do it every single time I vacuum and it makes

doing the chore that much more difficult for me. I usually shoo them away 

or tell them to go find something else to play with but this week I realized, why not?
Why not pretend the vacuum is a monster?

They will only be kids once, and who are they hurting?

I'm knocking their fun and imagination because it inconveniences me.

That's what it comes down to.

So I encourage all you parents to loosen up a little.

Ask yourselves "Why not?" a little more often...

and let them be little :)

Wordless Wednesday

Cowboy Country Calico Baked Beans {recipe}

I'm not really sure what to call this recipe.

Its adapted from a few different recipes in my Fix-It and Forget-It cookbook.

My mom would make these beans often when I was growing up.

I remember them almost always being served with a ham at Christmas time.
It was always one of my favorite dishes and I just recently started making it
for my own family. It's great for BBQs and potlucks!

Oh, and this isn't my picture. Its a picture I googled. But it is a picture of
beans, and it looks almost exactly like these CCCBBs. That's my new acronym too.
I don't think it works.

Cowboy Country Calico Baked Beans

1lb bacon, cooked and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2lb can pork and beans
16oz can Great Northern beans
16oz can butter beans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp salt
2tbs apple cider vinegar
1tbs prepared mustard

Combine all in a slow cooker and cook on low 5-6 hours.
That's it!

And just FYI, for those of you who don't know (like me) butter beans
might be found near canned vegetables, not with the beans.

Finding Normal Pt 2

Lets try this again.

Apparently I wasn't ready for "normal" the last time I posted.

I'm hoping for a better, more successful month this time.

I wasn't a complete fail during May though.

I was also preparing for my husband coming home from deployment!
For some reason, that takes a lot of time and energy.

Mostly cleaning.

But yes, my husband is back! After 6 long months, we are a family again.

I did get to complete some of things I listed last time, 

so lets get caught up...

1) Place a Scentsy order before I get kicked out.

2) Drink more water since I've been living off of energy drinks.

3) Start making my smoothies again since I've been eating like crap.

4) Replant some of my plants in my garden since I've been neglecting them.

5) Reseed my front yard so it has a chance to grow before hubby gets home.

6) Finish up my laundry room makeover that I've been majorly slacking on. (almost done!)

7) Plan out the rest of Kayden's school work for this year and purchase next year's curriculum.

 8) Wash and FOLD every single piece of laundry in this house.

9) Get back on my cleaning schedule since it's been screwed up entirely these past few weeks.

10) Start over with TurboFire.

I also plan on getting back to daily posts. I love being part of the
blogging community and I missed it!

I hope I still have some readers! lol