A day in Amish country

Today Joe and I went with our friends to spend a relaxing day in Amish country. I loved it. The countryside was beautiful. I saw the worlds largest draft horse. His name Big Ben he weighed 3,000 pounds. The horse was huge!! We looked at the shops and I saw the most beautiful quilts. We sampled jellies and jams and the best peanut butter you ever had. They had this huge fabric outlet and the prices were so cheap. I would have bought tons of fabric.(if I had enough money) I have no pictures to show because I didn't want to invade any ones privacy, but I will share a recipe with you out of the Ohio Amish Guide.

Amish Macaroni Salad

1 1/2 c uncooked macaroni
1 t. salt
3 hard boiled eggs
1/2 c chopped celery
1/4 c chopped onion (optional)
3/4 c Miracle Whip
2 T mustard
1/4 c vinegar
1/3 c sugar
Cook and drain macaroni. Cool. Add salt, eggs, celery, and onion.
Mix Miracle Whip, mustard, vinegar, and sugar thoroughly, then add to
macaroni mixture.

I am going to try this to. Let me know how yours turns out. It will be great for picnics and BBQ's this summer. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

My son...

My son is obsessed with Toy Story. I mean he can watch it over and over all day long. It doesn't matter which one it is either. He has probably watched the second one the most though. I was sitting watching it with him and the part where Jesse is telling Woody about her owner comes on. They play this sad sappy song and my 2 yr old starts singing along. He sounded so sweet. He amazes me everyday. I love watching what he learns and what he does. I think we need to slow down and watch our kids and families, before we know it they are grown up and think they know more than you. Enjoy this clip of JD's favorite part of the movie.

Upgrade

We recently upgraded to a flat screen TV. My husband got a "great deal" on it. OK so now where do I put it? We had an old entertainment stand that this TV was not going to fit in. My husband said "We can just sit it on top" We did this for about a month and I was like "OK I'm done". We didn't have the money to buy one so I wandered my house for a few days to see what I could turn into a TV stand. I finally had a great idea. I had this hand me down dresser in my dinning room filled with sewing supplies and family pictures so I emptied it and my husband helped me move it. We took out the top drawer to use as a shelf for the DVD player and satellite box. I used the other two drawers for movies and Cd's. I actually refinished the dresser last summer to put it in my dinning room. I also want to do something to the inside of the "shelf" I just don't know what yet.  It looks perfect as a TV stand and I saved myself at least $100.00. Here is a photo. My advice, check your house before you make that big purchase. You might just find what you are looking for there.

Resurrection Sunday!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Resurrection Sunday with their families. Please enjoy this song. It is Amazing! Thank you God for all you do for my family and for dying on the cross for us.

My least favorite of the holiday traditions....

 I don't know why but I could go without coloring Easter eggs. It has never been one of my favorite things to do. But my daughter begs every year and every year I give in. What a sucker I am.

 While grocery shopping Brooke sees a Glitter Easter egg kit. As if coloring them wasn't bad enough we need to make them sparkle. This is the Magic Glitter shaker. Two pieces of paper attached with a mini bag inside. What is so magical about that?

Here are my happy children when we get done. Was it worth the mess? Was it worth keeping my 2 year old from drinking the dye? Was it worth all the glitter everywhere? Yes it was. They had fun and it is something they will remember. (Brooke will anyway)

Ohio :/ ''ugh!!

The weather around here is terrible!!! I have been fighting a cold and sinus problems for a week and a half!!!! I am so done. I hear it is going to be warm tomorrow but still rain. Why can't we catch a break?! It is downright depressing. Please God show us the sun...

Ohio need I say more?

Where else but in Ohio would it pour rain and we still go to an Easter egg hunt? You gotta wear your poncho, mud boots and take your umbrella. UGH!! I hope the kids have fun anyway. I prayed for no rain but it looks like that prayer will go unanswered. Can't wait for the warm weather to stay. I miss that yellow ball in the sky......

It has been decided.

Well we found out tonight that the finale of the dance recital is going to be....(drum roll please) Thriller! They are going to dress as zombies and they have a really cool dance. I can't wait! It is in May but when I get pictures I will post them.

Tip of the day...

I was cleaning my house yesterday when I realized I had no toilet bowl cleaner. I live in the middle of nowhere so I didn' t want to run to the store. I looked online to see if I could make my own. You know you can!?! So I tried it and my toilet bowl are shiny and clean. I don't think I will ever buy toilet cleaner again. All I did was put 1/4 cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar in the bowl. It will fizzle and foam, let it sit for about 5 min then scrub with your toilet brush. The best part is it is cheap. You usually have these on hand anyway for other things. So that is my tip for the day. I hope it helps. This is the web site I found it on. There are lots of other cleaning products you can make yourself. Once on the website click on Green Tips. http://www.aboutmyplanet.com/

Last Dance Competition.

Well yesterday was the last dance competition of the season. The girls rocked the house. They did an amazing job! Brooke's jazz number got GOLD and their tap number got PLATINUM! They also got another award for BEST ENTRANCE. The whole studio did a fabulous job and brought home a lot of platinum. Four of the girls brought home titles! I am so proud of all the girls. The teachers rock and did a wonderful job with the girls. I added a short clip of their jazz number. My camera is a dinosaur so I have no sound. We have recital in May and then we are done for the summer. (except summer ballet but that doesn't really count)

One man's trash....

A lot of the furniture in my house is hand me down. We recently got a sectional sofa from my parents. Their crazy dogs chewed the arms of the sofa. I am trying to think of a way to make arm covers without them looking tacky. I tried today but my husband said "I guess they are OK" which means uh no. So I need to come up with another plan.

Sick Day?

Does mom get a sick day? I think she should. I am not feeling well today and my wonderful husband has to work. He found me a babysitter for my 2yr old. How wonderful! I can relax and try to get better. I love him so much!

Say WHAT?!!?

Well our weekend competition is all on Sunday! Her first number is at 8am and the second is at 9am! UGH!! To top it all off the awards are not until 12:45! What are they thinking? They have the older girls dancing until 10:45 pm. Crazy! They are going to be so tired. Now we have nothing to do on Saturday. Oh well. So I need to think of a cool project to do. Any suggestions?

Girls Night!

Had the girls over on Friday night for Mother-Daughter Spa night. (of course JD wanted to join in)
The girlies had fun with the foot bath(JD too!) After that we painted toe nails and finger nails.

                                             


This was the clay mask. They loved this part. Made their skin nice and soft.
They had a lot of fun and we are definitely going to do it again.



Pump It Up Party....

 The theme was a pajama party. All the girls wore their favorite pajamas. They played games (like the one above) and just had a lot of fun!

This is the whole group. They are so close. The older ones take care of the little ones. It was really nice. I am proud of all of these girls!

Chicken Coop???

 We are finally done and the chickens have moved into their new house! Yes this was an old camper. My father-in-law got it for $50.00 about 8 years ago. It just sat in his yard. They asked if we wanted it and I said "can I make it into a chicken coop?" My husband thought about it and said "I guess so". And the rest is history.

                                         Can't wait for them to start laying eggs!

My husband and his helper. He worked so hard to make this possible. I love him so much! He is awesome