Gardening: The lazy man's way

Hello all. I know it has been a while since I have written! Sorry about that! Things have been kinda busy around these parts. I have had a chance to reconnect with some old friends and have really enjoyed spending time with them. I found out that one of my friends from AU in the Registrar's Office lives 5 minutes down the street from me now! How cool is that?

We have also been busy starting our "Square Foot Garden." You can kind of see it in the background of the pictures. It's just a simple wooden garden box that we built. We put a grid on the top that divides the box into 16 different parts and we planted different vegetables and herbs into each part. This is a first for us so we are excited to see if it turn out for us! So far, it has been really easy work. No roto-tilling, no digging, you just fill the box with new dirt and it stays above ground. My kinda garden.

I still have nightmares about pulling weeds at Nana's house in MI in her garden. Yikes!! (Love you Nana!!)

This weekend we are headed up to Saugutuck MI with 3 other couples our age from our small group at church. We have rented a house by Lake Michigan to spend the weekend at. I am so ready to get away! Wes' parents are going to be watching the kids while we are gone so that should be fun for them (or at least I'm hoping!!) I can't wait to have a weekend of adult conversation where I get to sleep in maybe past 7:30. Yahoo!!

Owen has started pulling up to his feet which is exciting! I'm glad to see some progress so I don't have to get worried that he isn't progressing. 14 months though and not walking seems weird to me. But I know, I know, all babies do it on their own time. My baby just happens to be really slow. He is also finally getting some new teeth. So no more dreams about me taking care of our lame 30 year old son who is practically toothless. Ohhhhh....don't get mad!! I'm totally kidding!!

Have a great weekend everybody!!

America: The Story of Us

If you love history or even if you don't, I have a show for you. It was on last night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was called America: The Story of Us and it was on the History Channel. There are 6 episodes in the series I believe and I know they will be rerunning the premiere this week. It was a quick look at the way our country came to be who we are. It's really interesting and fast-paced so it is an easy watch.

Why did I like this so much? Because it made me think about things.

Here are some thoughts I had while watching this show:

1). Good things come to those who are willing to do hard things...to go against the norm.
Imagine being one of the early pioneers at Jamestown. You made the hard 2 month journey to cross the Atlantic and then you reach America only to almost starve to death. You encountered disease and really bad weather. But in the end, those who survived were better off because of what the new world offered. They said that the settlers' next generations were nearly 2 inches taller than the normal Brit and they would have a really good chance of living into later adulthood. So, even though it was hard for those first settlers, they were able to change their family trees. They made a better life for the generations after them. Pretty neat.

2.) Life back then was so different than life today.
I was thinking that the first settlers would be astonished at our lives today compared to the way life was back then. They said that the average settler had 8 children. These children were not bred for the enjoyment, they were bred to be helpers to the family. I'm not saying that this is ideal, but I think a lot of families today have lost sight of teaching their kids to be contributors to life. Their children instead expect things to come to them....without them having to work for things. Back then, if you didn't work, you didn't eat. Plain and simple. This is a challenge to me when I complain about mundane things like housework and cooking. Back then, I'm sure it was way worse! I don't think I would be too good at cooking over a boiling pot of water and a fire!

3). Just because you feel like you are ordinary doesn't mean you can't make a difference.
Paul Revere was an ordinary guy, but he chose to do something hard and be the man who warned all of the militias of Britain's plans. Dangerous...yes. Did he make a difference...absolutely. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. How can I make sure that my life is a life that mattered to someone? A life that had an impact? I'm not sure about this yet, but I just keep trusting that God has a plan for me. I just hope I am open to things even if they are difficult.

4). Be grateful for what you have. We are living the American dream.
Sometimes I catch myself dreaming about what my life would be if I won a million dollars. Life would be so much easier. I would have no worries. I could live the American dream. But really, if I am truly honest, I am living the American dream everyday. I have a beautiful home, a beautiful family, religious freedom, and the ability to make all sorts of choices. How can you improve on that? You really can't. I just need to wake up and be grateful for what I do have. (side note: can you tell this is an area I struggle with since I talk about it all the time??) But I think I'm getting better. Each day I am finding more and more things to be grateful for and less and less things to complain about.

So, if you're interested, you should watch this show! As you can tell, I really enjoyed it.

Do you Swagbuck??

Do you do a lot of searching on the internet? If you do, there is this new program called Swagbucks that you might want to look into! They give you rewards for doing simple internet searches. All you do is sign-up and then you can either go to their website to start your search or you can do what I did and download the Swagbucks toolbar.

For me, I have questions throughout the day and all I do is run upstairs and type in my question or a keyword into the SwagBucks toolbar and then I'm able to get points while still doing what I need to do. Pretty cool, huh?

I have only been a member for about 4 days and I already have a lot of Swagbucks.

So, if you're curious, sign up and see what it's all about! Just click the link below or copy and paste the address into your browser.

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/wheretheheartis

Thanks to my mom and Kristin for getting me hooked on this!!

Taste Test Tuesday: Cinnamon Breakfast Muffins

Growing up in the Laning house, we would get to pick out one food item from the grocery store during our birthday week. This was especially exciting because my mom wasn't the type to get whatever we wanted from the store whenever we wanted it. Wasn't she a big meanie?? Seriously, her sticking to a budget and doing this has been a blessing to me because now I can go to the store and have some discipline and not let myself get carried away with whatever new thing hits the market. My food budget thanks you Sandy. :)

Anyway, I loved these little Mini Muffins from Hostess and for a few years in a row, Lindsay and I would get these as our birthday treats. We loved them even though, looking back they were the biggest jip in the world! They would only have 4-5 mini muffins in the packages and 4 total packages in the box and they were like $4 a box!! But we loved them, so we kept buying them.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised when I made this new muffin recipe because they brought me back to my mini-muffin days! They're not exact, but they are in the same spirit as our birthday treat.

I like this recipe because it is so simple that I can whip it up in the morning and they are done in about 15 minutes! And not to mention, they are super cute.

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 oz. light sour cream

1 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add sugar, oil, applesauce, vanilla, salt and sour cream, mixing well. All at one time, add flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon. Stir until all is moistened and slightly lumpy. DO NOT OVERMIX!! Pour into oiled mini muffin tin and bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Makes 24 mini muffins

I think he likes them!!

Happenings.....

Now that the weather has changed, it seems as if life has begun again. I always appreciate Spring so much because Winter can kind of take it out of you.




The kids have been having a great time playing outside and going to the park. We even had a picnic at the park. It was surprisingly really fun. For some reason, Preston ate better at the park than he does at home. Must be the incentive of having some fun playtime if he eats.

We have been busy busy busy selling our black Avalon and getting a new car. The Avalon was a great car but it started having problems that could cost us up to $3300 to fix. Not really worth it for a car that had 180,000 miles on it. So, Wes worked his craigslist magic and sold it to an African guy who bought it for $4250. He said he buys them and then fixes them and ships them back over to Africa!! Wow, not really where I expected the car to be going.

We just found a car to replace the Avalon this week. It's a Nissan Sentra 2004 that Wes got for about $3600. It's got kinda high miles (125,000) but it is immaculate so we're hoping it can take him well over 200,000. Here it is. We were glad though that by the time we pay taxes and title on it, we will have broke even. We thank God for this blessing!

The middle of May, I'm going to be going to Chuck and Sara's for a week to help out. I was so blessed because my friends have all stepped up to take the kids during the day so that I am able to do this. It makes me want to cry to think about all of these people I have in my life who are willing to help out. You guys are great and I feel tremendously lucky!

Owen just got put on another antibiotic because he has an ear infection that he just can't kick. They said if this drug doesn't help, he's off to get tubes. :( Following in his mother and brother's footsteps I guess. We do have a wonderful ENT though who I feel completely comfortable with so if he does have to get tubes, I won't stress. I will just be glad to get my son back to feeling better!

Well, that's all the happenings for now. Hope everyone else is doing wonderful and enjoying the weather!

Easter

I posted these on Facebook, but some of you are not on Facebook, so I thought I would put these on the blog too! We had a wonderful Easter....first with my side of the family. Mike and Mandy were blessed with a foster baby named Daniel who was only 2 days old!! Then we had a cute Easter Egg hunt for Preston. Then we headed over to Wes' parents house on Sunday for another fun Easter Egg Hunt.

Ahhh...the waiting to begin can be so torturous.

Who stole all my eggs?

Finally!! Let's go!

I love this kid. Still only has 2 teeth. He's my late-bloomer.

Preston got 3 eggs that had $1 each in them that he was super excited about. He has already spent $2 out of the three dollars on a Fisher Price Noah's Ark he found himself at Goodwill! He's got Wes and my eyes for a bargain already!! And he has my love of spending money as fast as I get it! Hehe!!

Taste Test Tuesday- Country Ham and Macaroni Casserole

We had a scrumptious ham on Saturday night when my parents were visiting, but we had so much left over! So, now I am thinking of what to do with all of this ham. My friend Kristin gave me this recipe and I have had it multiple times and it is oh-so-yummy!! Perfect for kids too!! Mine just love it. For the record though, I have never met a kid that didn't like a good mac and cheese.

Country Ham and Macaroni Casserole

1 lb country ham slices or regular smoked ham in one piece

1 large onion, diced (I use about half this much)

1 lb elbow macaroni

2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
(8 oz)1 cup sour cream

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine, melted

1 cup dry plain bread crumbs

1. Heat oven to 400º.

2. Bring 4 quarts water and ham to boiling in large pot. Add onion and macaroni to pot. Return water to boiling; cook 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Coarsely chop ham.

4. Drain macaroni and onion and return to pot. Add ham, cheese, sour cream and soup. Scrape into a 13x9x2 baking dish. Pour melted margarine over top. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.

5. Bake in heated 400º oven 30 minutes or until heated through and top is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Note: Prepare in two 8x8 casserole dishes, bake one and freeze one (unbaked) for another day.

Stacy's notes: I have never frozen this so I can't attest to how well it would warm up! But this is a great meal to make ahead and then put in the fridge until right before dinner. This is a yummy meal, but prob. not if you are watching your weight!!

Pictures of the Fam

Wes made that mask of his face in high school.