Puffs Plus

If you have a cold (which I do), are congested (which I am), sneezing (yes) and are wiping your nose continuously (yes, on that front, too!) then you will love these Puffs tissues.

They have Vicks in them.  Took me right back to childhood when my Mom would rub my chest with Vicks and put a warm towel on me when I was sick.  I slept with one of these tissues under my nose last night. 

Ahhh, don't go through a cold without these babies. 

Holiday Pictures

I have lots of pictures from the holidays and I thought I would post a few to remember the festivities.

First up...The Thanksgiving Goat.  I give you "Soda Pop" who lives on The Bad Farm.

Traditional Flag Football game on the farm in Tennessee.  I wish I would have had a picture of David falling down and his pants around his ankles.  I crack up now just thinking about it. 

The Queen leading the cheer leading squad. She did not have much to work with.  She actually looks disgusted in this picture and I think this is one of our most coordinated cheers! 

Group shot!  Bob was the referee.  He got lots of backtalk from the teams.

Cousins. 

Minute to Win It Games.  My sweet Harry was texting his Dad...."Why does Mom make us play these stupid games?"  I am kicking him out of the family.  

Boot Camp on the Bad Farm.  It was cold, but we were hard core!

Callie drove Chip around in the back of her truck and he shot Nerf guns at us while we exercised.  He loved his participation in Boot Camp.

Do your push-ups Dad.  Do it now.  

This is the Tortilla Tree I made for Beth's party.  Remember, last year I made the fruit tree that was awesome but gave me blisters on my fingers after sticking in all those toothpicks. This one was not as pretty, but also not nearly as time consuming and blister causing!

Beth's beautiful table of food!  It is always so dang good!  Her pecan stuffed dates are legendary!

Mer and Grandpa came for a quick visit to see Harry in the Tuna Christmas Production.  Here they come into the cul-de-sac and yes that is Chip chasing down their van from the end of the street.

While Mer and Gpa were here we had our annual Brown Santa Stuffed Animal drive with the V Family.  We had an awesome response from our friends and neighbors and collected hundreds of stuffed animals and books.  It felt great to make such a big contribution to a great organization. 

The super talented cast of Tuna Christmas!  Great Job! 

Gorgeous sunrise as we head for Alabama!  Road Trip!  

Megan celebrating her college graduation from The University of Alabama in Huntsville. Also graduating the same day was Malarie's fellow Brett from The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa!   Big time celebration for the both of them!  

Scout...the biggest dog in the world.  This pictures just does not do him justice.  He is a big one.

Family meeting.

Decorating Sugar Cookies.

Of course, Grandpa is smack talking about how his sugar cookie is the best and is going to win the contest.  Of course there was not a contest it was just for fun but you just can't tell him that. 

A shot of Christmas tree and presents.  There are lots of people in this family and lots of presents! 

Can you even imagine how jazzed this gets a little kid?

Chip opened one present on Christmas Eve as is our family tradition.  It was a cool Lego set.

We all helped build it!

This is one for the memory books.  Joey brought over his dog because it was storming and his dog eats through walls and tears down steel beams when he hears thunder.  Well, Rocky didn't eat any walls but he did step on Harry's Xbox drawer when it was opened and broke it.  After all regular means were attempted to get it back on track, Brett took his new college degree in Business and put it to work.  He disassembled Harry's XBox down to the wires.  There were pieces everywhere.  And he fixed it. He fixed it as good as new!  Way to go Brett!  You saved the day!  There were whoops and hollers coming from all the children and adults in the house when he plugged it in and it worked!  A Christmas XBox miracle.

I hope your Christmas was awesome and you can look back with fond memories!  I know I can!  

Pantry Confessions

Last night my boys were at the Cotton Bowl and I was home alone.  (Great game by the Aggies, but that is not what I am blogging about today)  You see, I thought I would be spending my solo time getting organized for my Lakeside crafts next week. Luckily for me I stumbled on an awesome wooden heart picture frame for the residents to paint that was dirt cheap and requires zero prep time for me!  Score!

So, without the crafts to work on I decided to tackle one of the major areas on my 40 Bags in 40 Days Purging list.  I have done just about every area in the kitchen with the exception of the dreaded P A N T R Y.

Cue the scary music from the scariest movie you have ever seen.....

It was a daunting task.

I started pulling everything out, shelf by shelf, so I could clean the shelves really good before reorganizing and reloading.

I pulled out tons of stuff that was easy just to chuck right in the garbage....empty boxes (why, why, why does someone put an empty box back in the pantry????), one cracker left in the box, chip dust in the bottom of a bag, a handful of Cheerios, two inches of wax paper left on the roll, snack size microwave popcorn that burns every single time you try to make it (TIP:  never buy snack size microwave popcorn), crushed fruit bars, a bottle of White Zinfandel with a 2003 Beach Prize Certificate for "Drinking the Most" attached to it (apparently my award winning drinking is only for the beach since I didn't crack this bottle open for nine years.  It was hard to toss my award though....I don't win much these days and I am awfully proud of what I do win.)

Anyway, you get the idea....there was a lot of trash and junk in the pantry that was easy to pitch.

Then I started examining the expiration dates on the remaining items and before long I had to pull out a brand new garbage bag.

Here is just a sampling of the bottled items that had expired in my pantry.  How does vinegar expire?  That seems like it should last forever.  And why do I have two giant bottles of it?  The Fat Free Balsamic Dressing on the far right had never even been opened.  WASTEFUL!  

Hands down, the most alarming item of all was the Fish Sauce which expired on 12/10/05!  WHAT????  I had to get out my cheater readers to make sure I was reading that correctly.  OMG!  I am sure that is a health code violation to have seven year old fish sauce in your pantry.  It is the third bottle from the left.  You can see that it is damn near full.

If I recall correctly, I needed it for a recipe to make some knock-off PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps.  That is also what I needed the Hot Chili Oil for that is sitting next to the Fish Sauce.  Also expired by many, many years.  The other thing I recall about that recipe is that it was hard.  Required a ton of dicing and slicing, marinating, and lots of specialty ingredients I wouldn't normally have in my pantry.  It was good, but who wants to spend hours in the kitchen making lettuce wraps?  Not me.  I would rather just make reservations and enjoy them at PF Chang's!  Lesson learned.

Anyway, I filled up bag after bag of trash and put back just the items I would use and that were not expired.   My pantry is now a thing of beauty.

NOTE FOR MY NEIGHBOR KAREN:  Based on this cleaning and purging exercise you should be warned that when you borrow something from me, you should definitely check the expiration date!

To wrap up and give you the most current tally...25 of the 40 areas on my list are complete.  Hubby and the boys are going to be home momentarily and we are going to tackle the closet under the stairs.  It should be an all day affair!

Have a great weekend!

40 Bags in 40 Days Purge Challenge

I mentioned in my New Year's Post that I was on a mission to purge and reorganize the house.  In fact, I was so inspired that I sent out a 40 Day Challenge to my friends and neighbors and I am getting regular updates from lots of them.  It is the perfect time of year to do this kind of clean-out! 

I thought I would give you the latest and greatest on my progress.  It is January 3rd and I have already done 20 of the 40 items on my list + 4 areas that weren't even on my original list.  I have lots of hard areas left so I still have my work cut out for me to get it all done by the time my forty days are up.

Are you doing the 40 day challenge?  How's it going?  Let me know!  Send me before and after pictures!  My sister sent me some great ones.  I haven't been taking before pictures, but maybe I will take a tour of the house for after pictures when I am done.  I need someone to come over and borrow something so I can swing open my kitchen cabinets to show off their tidiness!  Usually, I take my chances opening up the Tupperware cabinet.  Something is always jumping and tumbling out of there! 

Kitchen

1. Medicine Cabinet in Kitchen - Done
2. Junk Drawers in Kitchen Island - Done
3. Chip’s Junk Drawer in Kitchen - Done
4. Utensil Drawer in Kitchen - Done
5. Silverware Drawer in Kitchen - Done
6. Spice Cabinet in Kitchen – Done
7. Candle Cabinet in Kitchen - Done
8. Recipes - Done
9. Cabinets under Island in Kitchen (MAJOR) - Done
10. Cabinet under Stove - Done
11. Tupperware Cabinet in Kitchen - Done
12. Shelves above Oven in Kitchen - Done
13. Pantry (MAJOR)
14. Water Bottle Cabinet in Kitchen
15. Cabinets under Kitchen sink
16. Refrigerator
17. Freezer

Laundry Room

18. Laundry Shelf - Done
19. Baskets in Laundry Room - Done

Downstairs Bathroom

20. Under Sink in Downstairs Bathroom
21. Linen Closet Downstairs Bathroom

Mom’s Office

22. Toy Bookshelf in my Office
23. Office Desk
24. Toy Closet in my Office (MAJOR)

Other Downstairs

25. Under Stairs Closet (MAJOR)
26. Hutch in Dining Room (MAJOR) - Done
27. TV Cabinet in Living Room - Done

Master Bedroom

28. Master Closet Hers (MAJOR)
29. Under Sink in Master Bath - Done
30. Mom’s Dresser
31. Under Bed - Done
32. Hallway Linen Closet - Done

Harry’s Bathroom

33. Linen Closet Harry’s Bathroom
34. Under Sink in Harry's Bathroom

Guest Bedroom

35. Craft Closet (MAJOR)
36. Guest Dresser - Done

Harry’s Bedroom

37. Harry’s Closet
38. Harry’s Bed Drawers
39. Harry’s Desk

Chip’s Bedroom

40. Chip’s Closet
41. Chip’s Bed Drawers

Other Areas I have done that weren't on my original list:

42.  Cabinet above toaster

43.  Cabinet under toaster

43.  Cabinet under sink in Laundry Room

44.  Makeup drawer in Master Bath

The house is still a bit chaotic as I go from one area to the other, but definitely making some good progress.  Hope your new year is off to a cleansing start.  I know I am feeling lighter already!

Have a great day! 

Catching up with Buddy

I thought I would catch you up on some of the places we found our crazy elf, Buddy!  

Just hanging around.  Gives me a head rush thinking about him being upside down all night and day!

One night he wrapped our toilet in toilet paper!  I guess that is better than the ceiling fan that he did last year!  It did not require a ladder to clean up and for that I am grateful.

He snuck into a bag of Mini Powdered Donuts and had sugar all over his face. 

He is lucky he didn't get injured after a rousing game of Jenga with the cowboy snowman. 

He was buried under Jenga blocks, but did not seem to be injured.

He got super mischievous and drew beards and mustaches on two pictures of the boys.  That dirty rat!

The morning after we decorated our tree we found him tucked into an empty ornament box at the top of the stack!  

He perched up on our "Who needs Santa...I have Nana" sign.  Makes me miss Louise. 

He got into with the wrestling guys again this year.  I think he was in a similar situation last year.  He needs to start working out or something.

He had a calm night looking at our Christmas cards.  He is almost peaceful when he is doing something like this. 

We caught him one day putting the the real Elf movie in the DVD player.

He played ping pong with the snowman.

Went dumpster diving in the leftover cookie bag.

And finally, left a note for us not to forget him on our trip to Bama. We didn't!  He made the trip and made our holidays just a little bit more fun.  

Chip said to me the other day...there should be an Elf for every holiday.  A cupid for Valentines, an Uncle Sam for Independence Day, a Frankenstein for Halloween, etc....  

Not a bad idea Chip!   We sure enjoy having Buddy around at Christmas! 

Brussel Sprouts

I just made these Brussel Sprouts.  They were amazing.  And that is saying something for Brussel Sprouts!  Try them!  Even if you hate Brussel Sprouts.  Vegetables are your friend!  Let me know what you think!

Lemon Garlic Brussel Sprouts

Ingredients
2 lb Brussel Sprouts
4 tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp butter
1 lemon, juiced and zested
3 tbsp parmesean, grated
sea salt
pepper

Instructions
Clean the brussel sprouts by trimming off the ends and peeling the outer layer of the sprout off. Cut each one in half.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.

Once heated, add the halved brussel sprouts to the pan and saute for about 7-8 minutes on each side until the outer part is a caramelized brown and the inside is soft and fully cooked.

Add the garlic half way through the cooking.

Reduce the heat to low and add the butter, lemon zest, juice, salt and pepper.

Stir to combine and taste. Adjust seasoning if needed. Add the cheese on top and serve.

Happy New Year

Hello my sweet readers!  I know I left you high and dry for a long, long period of time and I apologize. I did not fall off the end of the earth, I just couldn't find time to blog during the busy holiday season. 

We had a wonderful Christmas celebrating in Bama with the family.  It is always such a blessing to share the holidays with the people we love and this year was no exception.  There have been a mere two trips to the ER for us - but we don't think we are on vacation if someone doesn't need some after hours medical care.  All is well these days and folks are on the mend. 

Santa was very generous to the boys this year.  They deserve it...they were pretty awesome kids.  Chip was in Nerf and Lego nirvana.  He got a totally cool Jose Batista autograph picture and Alabama print for his room.  Harry was all technology and sports with a Blake Griffin autograph print topping his list of exciting loot.     

We spent seven nights in Bama, running up and down the Parkway visiting family.  We celebrate Megan's college graduation, wrapped gifts, made cookies, shopped, played games, ate, drank, ate, drank, ate, drank and were very merry.  

Then the inevitable happened and we had to pack up the old Suburban and do the dreaded 14 hour drive home.  It is never as fun as the drive there.  It was good to be home.  

So now...

The Christmas decorations are packed up and put away.  Yea!!!   

The Christmas presents have all been put together, played with, tried on, hung up, returned, exchanged and put away. 

A few of the extra pounds I picked up during the holidays have been removed.  More work to do on that front.  I have a plan and the confidence that I have all the tools and information I need to be healthy.  New food journal has been started.  Kitchen is stocked with the good food I know work to keep me in the Zone.  It will be hard to get off the carbs and sugar that have made their way into my mouth, but I know it is doable and totally worth it. 

As is pretty typical for this time of year, I have started a major purge and reorganization of the house.  I am actually doing a 40 Bags in 40 Day Purge challenge where every day for forty days you spend at least 30 minutes a day tackling a problem area in your house.  I have created a list with forty areas that need some attention and am working my way through them.....under the master bathroom sink, the tupperware cabinet, the spice cabinet, etc...  I was supposed to start the challenge today, but I started a couple of days ago.   Being off of work has allowed me to get a fast start on the list and carry about five bags out of this house already.  The Goodwill stack is also growing large!  I have marked twelve of the forty areas off my list.  Maybe I didn't make it hard enough? 

Here is a random list of things that I want to record for my own personal walk down memory lane:

1.  I got my first speeding ticket for going 41 in a 30.  

2.  Harry was awesome in Tuna Christmas. He was a perfect Arlis.  The cast saying Roll Tide excessively and often was just icing on the cake.  Can't wait to see what they do next. 

3.  Tape ball is hard and not a fun Christmas game.

4.  Hubby's aneurysm scan was not remarkable (which we are assuming is good news) but the blood clot caused by the IV in his arm is not good news. He gets the weirdest stuff! 

5.  Scout is a large dog.  A nice, large dog. 

6.  Hubby pulled his very first lap top out of his closet and it weighed a ton and a half.  Then he pulled four more out of the closet.  Boy needs to purge. 

7.  Pinkie toe infections are gross.

8.  Taking a real break from work is problematic.  I don't want to go back.  

9.  None of my nativity pieces were broken this year.  That must mean my boys are growing up. 

10.  I do not love College Bowl season being spread out over so many weeks.  I like all the games in a day or two.  No one asked me for my opinion, but I felt compelled to share it.

11.  A mini basketball backboard installed on the downstairs closet is loud and maybe not such a good idea.  Why do the boys have to love it?

12.  Can you possibly ever have a need for 7 potholders?   How many items can you take out of the oven at one time? 

13.  My visit to Lakeside is coming up in a hurry. Valentine craft ideas anyone?  

14.  Getting an early workout in on New Year's Day just feels awesome. Like I am a gym rat or something.  I am not, but I felt like one.  My arms are going to be sore tomorrow! 

15.  Roll Tide.  

Well, that is all I have to share for tonight.  I am sure I missed a ton of great happenings, but will catch you up if I think of them!  

I hope your New Year is blessed with good health and happiness and that you have more joy, laughter, love and adventure than ever before!   Do something kind for someone!   Share a smile.  Say "I love you".  Hug your kids.  I think 2013 is gonna be awesome!