{Help Save a Life}

A friend of mine posted about this subject a week ago, so I looked into this: Bone marrow donation. Usually registering as a bone marrow donor costs $56 (the cost is from the extensive research of matching up the donor with the recipient). Well, NASCAR is sponsoring a drive for bone marrow donors which means Sept.7-Sept 22 this process will be absolutely FREE!!



All you do, is go here and register, and they will send you a kit with a few cotton swabs to gather some cheek skin cells and send back to them, and then you are officially on the Bone Marrow Donation Registry list! Think how amazing it would be literally help SAVE someone's life - with you just doing a simple blood draw procedure?? Most of the doctors seem to do a normal blood transfusion by way of taking the marrow, but there are some cases in which they do take it out of your hip (the old way).



I've always wanted to help save a life... I'm big on donating blood when I can. I ordered my kit last week, (it was free), and I'm now sending back my samples from my cheek!



Care to join me in saving a life? You only have until the 22nd of September to order this kit for free. After that, it's roughly $57.00.

{Happy Birthday Mike!}

Today my sweetie is celebrating his birthday (OK, the girls and I will celebrate for him as he isn't much into celebrations). He hit a major milestone.... 35 years old!!

Here are a few pictures of him

OK ... top 10 things I love about Mike (I did this for our 10th anniversary, but did it with 100 things I loved about him, but I'm drastically shortening it up this time, not b/c I can't think of things to love about him, but it's 7:00 a.m. and I'm just not thinking 100% clearly).

1) He is the best provider in the world!

2) He literally knows how to do most anything.

3) He makes a mean plate of stacked enchiladas.... (and chile rellenos!)

4) He loves to play with the girls and is the MOST patient person I have ever seen with them.

5) I love his smile.

6) There isn't anything he wouldn't do for anyone... literally.

7) He enjoys my entertainment: watching movies.

8) He is not lazy by any means ~ always on the go, however when he does happen to sit down for a second, he's asleep.

9) He truly listens.... and never has a bad thing to say about anyone, ever.

10) He leads our family as a priesthood holder..... awesome guy!

Love you Mike! Now, let's go out to lunch.... before Ike comes!

{Home Pics & an amazing find!}

After a few emails sent to me requesting pictures of my house... I wanted to wait until I had it semi-decorated before I took pictures. :) I can't quite capture all of one room in a single picture, which is why there are several pictures of each room.... I love the house. Kind of not really liking all the tile though (hurts the feet!) throughout the house.

::sigh:: I love my big clock

The girls are still decorating their room, but I did decorate their bathroom a theme sort of like Paris. (Yes Jenni ... still need to get a picture for that frame! The candle is on the other side of the sink!)

The Kitchen

My "office"

Found that awesome 2 tier holder for fruit (or whatever you wish) at Target for only $13.00!! Score!

We are TOTALLY loving our patio furniture. Once the bugs die down a bit, we'll eat outside more often, but for now, we're enjoying drinking our lemonade outside!

Need something on that wall over the couch....

I should wait on these pics for another blog post, but I saw these today at Target (my favorite store)... and thought these were SO dang cute! I am already thinking of Christmas gifts in these! I'm thinking .... brown sugar scrubs?! Anyways, they're so cute for just about anything, so check out your Target clearance to see if they have any left!

{Hungry for cake?}

I saw this on a message board I frequent, and I tried it out yesterday for an after school snack for the girls, and it was WELL received!

Know those Warm Delights by Betty Crocker? Those tiny little bowls of cake mix that you add water too, and put it in the microwave? But they're SO costly? Well, here's a fast way to make something similar, w/o breaking the bank or even breaking your diet (if you stick to one!)

Take a cake mix, and dip out 1/4 c of the cake mix. Put it in a bowl, and add 2 T of water. If you want to add some chocolate chips or syrup (caramel, chocolate, etc), go ahead. Mix it all up (or pour the syrup on top), and microwave it for one minute.

VERY easy, and goes well with a glass of milk!

{Jason Mraz}

Saw this video on a friend's blog, and I LOVE this song! It's called "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.... love the scatting this guy does!

{Knock off Manwich Recipe}

Last night I went to our food storage to find our Manwich cans for sloppy joes... and since Mike was the one who unloaded our food storage and arranged it, I couldn't find it (either we're out or we're missing a few boxes still). I went online and tried to find a recipe so I could use in a flash, and found the BEST recipe that is perfect for Sloppy Joes!!

Basically you still brown your hamburger meat, adding onions and green peppers if you want (I didn't b/c I thought we had Manwich). Add:

one 8 oz can of tomato sauce

1/4 tsp dry mustard

2 Tbsp honey

1 tsp Worchestire sauce (or however you spell it)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Let simmer for about 5 minutes or so, and it's DONE! The mixture is enough for a pound of hamburger, so double accordingly if you have a huge family. I love this moreso than Manwich itself, which is almost too sweet in a way. This was a little sweet, but not overbearingly sweet. Definitely a LOT cheaper than buying Manwich!

{Maddie-isms}

Maddie brought home a list of spelling words that she has to work on. Words include: goat, on, dog, cat, I, etc. I had her write the words 3 times each on her paper (part of the assignment) and I held up her flashcards for her to read them off. Then, I had her spell them from memory.

Here's our conversation:

Mom: Spell cat
Madison: C-A-T
Mom: Spell goat
Madison: G-O-A-T
Mom: Spell I
Madison: (looking kind of lost) ummm.... I?

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Madison's chore today was to empty the dishwasher. I was helping Katie with her email letters, and I hear her singing softly "Dontcha wish your girlfriend was HOT LIKE ME?"

I stood there, making sure I heard her song right, and was laughing quietly. I asked her "ummm, Madison, where did you learn that song?" She looked at me and said "oh, Alvin & the Chipmunks!" then proceeded to finish her song "dontcha wish your girlfriend was hot like me". ::giggling:: I let her carry on.

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We finally got a Wii last Friday, to which Madison & Katie have dominated the entire system all weekend long. Madison can officially beat both her Daddy & myself in everything! (Katie can too!). In fact, she has a cute little hop step that she does when she bowls, and when she boxes.... all I can say is LOOK OUT!

{Maddie's lost tooth}

I had totally forgotten to post about this a few weeks ago.

Maddie doesn't like anyone touching her teeth, period. So when it comes time for a tooth to come out, no one is allowed to touch her tooth! PERIOD! Shortly after we got here to Texas, she announced her tooth was really (ok, *weally*) loose, and that it was bleeding. I asked her if I could see, and she was very adamant that I didn't touch it.

So, I sent the girls to brush their teeth before bed, and I hear a "Mamma! Mamma! I lost my tooth brushing my teeth!" Sadly, there's not much room for her new tooth to grow in, and I know a huge orthodonic bill will be starting up within a few years. ::groan::

{Homemade Banana Ice Cream}

Using my family's basic recipe for homemade ice cream, we tweaked it a little last night and instead of making butterfinger ice cream (which is Mike's favorite of all), we made banana ice cream (I had 6 small bananas that needed to be disposed of, and fast!)

It was OUT OF THIS WORLD! and worthy of its own post. :) Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Banana Ice Cream

2 cups sugar
6 eggs
6 bananas (we froze for an hour)
1 tsp of vanilla (or a little more if you like vanilla)
2 quarts of half & half
a little bit of milk if needed to fill the canister (which we didn't)

We took a blender and blended up 3 eggs, 3 bananas, 1 c sugar and some half & half then poured it in the ice cream maker container. Then we did it again w/ the rest of the ingredients. Freeze as directed according to your ice cream maker. FANTABULOUS!!

When we make butterfinger ice cream, we use 6 butterfinger bars, crushed, and lessen the sugar to 1 3/4 cup.

{What is Amy up to today?}

Today I have been busy so far!

So far I have

I have been busy taking care of
who is

with a cold & a cough (and a sore throat)

I have also

made cookies so far today

I am currently doing the

and it's only 11:00 a.m. right now.

What are YOU doing today? :)