I found this blog. She is going to use her crockpot every day for a year. And post pictures too. I love the ideal of my crock pot, but most of the recipes I find are too much work. Who has time to chop, dice and all that jazz in the morning? I've people say do the prep the night before and assemble it in the morning. You mean, cook twice? Three times if you count pulling everything together once it's finished. Yeah, that's too much work, I'm all about simplifying things, but this site has easy recipes that I can actually see myself doing. She gives simple (sometimes funny) directions like: --mix with finger. or a spoon. whatever.And she uses real ingredients like canned tomatoes and cranberry sauce, of which I have 2 cans left over from Thanksgiving. I'm making the oatmeal (sans apple) this weekend for breakfast.

I'm teaching myself how to crochet. I found a crochet needle in a box of "stuff" someone had given us and I've always wanted to crochet and knit and got tired of people not following through when agreeing to teach. I went to the thrift store and brought some yarn to practice with and found the good folks over at Crafty Daisies who have a nifty video tutorial and so far I'm getting it. It's kinda fun. They have other cute little crafty stuff too. You should go check them out.

Can you place the states? I scored a 80%. I was never good at geography. Though in my own defense, I think I should have gotten credit for a couple where I was just a sliver off.

I have 3 wonderful little boys, 2 of whom are potty trained. I thought I would be smart and teach them to sit and use the potty. One day my sister took the oldest out and not wanting him to sit on a public toilet told him to stand "like a big boy". That's all she wrote. They must now stand which means I am mopping my bathroom floor about once a day. Who has time, right? Instead of trying to find the time, or assigning the kids an extra chore, I fit it into our bedtime schedule. Now in the evening, I put the youngest boys in the tub, wash them up and then let them play. While they're playing I clean my bathroom. I use lavender scented Comet (my favorite) or baking soda (cheap and just as effective) so they aren't overwhelmed with fumes and I take 10 minutes or less to wipe out the sink, swipe the toilet bowl out, wipe down the mirror and spot mop behind little boys who haven't quite perfected their aim.
For those of you with wee little ones, it can sometimes feel like you're always cleaning up after them, what are some things you do to keep it managable?

I said it before and I'll say it again, I hate feet. Now that it's cold people forget about their feet so that when the summer rolls around I'm grossed out by your nasty, crusty feet. Keep your feet presentable now so that when the warm weather hits, you'll be ready.

Winter Months Pedicure

1. It should go without saying that you need to start with clean feet. So go take a shower, but before you do, take off any old polish. While you're in the shower use a pumice stone to remove the dead skin from your feet. Most people are too rough with this at home, so be gentle.

2. Cut your nails and file them straight across. Round off the edges very slightly so they don't snag your stockings.

3. Apply cuticle softner and massage into your cuticles.

4. Use an orange stick (or your thumb nail) to push back your cuticles. Once again be gentle. Let feet rest for about 5 minutes. (Now would be a good time for your spouse to massage your feet with some peppermint oil)

5. Use a nail brush to clean feet and nails. Dry feet thouroughly.

6. Massage lotion on feet. You can stop here. If you want to polish your nails, use a cotton ball dipped in remover to clean lotion off nail.

7. Apply a basecoat. Let dry. Apply color. Let dry. Apply top coat. Let dry.

**Since your feet will most likely be covered, you can forgo the colored polish and just apply clear polish, especially if you always smudge your polish.

**If you have especially dry feet do this right before bed and stop at #5. Instead of lotion, use a generous amount of vaseline, then put on a pair of cotton socks. I will wrap my feet in a towel and relax for an hour and so, then use the towel to wipe off the excess vaseline. When you wake up, you will notice a dramatic difference in your feet.

My name is ebony and I'm a planner junkie. The highlight of my year isn't my birthday or Christmas, it's right about November or so when I go to pick out my new planner. Some years I don't even make it to November, I start looking in October. And I'm a Planner Snob too. I refuse to carry just any planner. I prefer Franklin Covey. I know there are cheaper planners (the horror!) and more expensive planner, but I'm a girl who knows what I like. That's why I was so disappointed when I couldn't find any calender pages that I like this year. I looked high and low and nothing. I was resigned to just get some pages from Target and make do. This would be the part where a light bulb would appear over my head. I don't have to settle, I can make my own! My biggest grip with planner pages is the scheduling part. My routine really doesn't require me to schedule every hour of my day. My planner needs to be able to handle the busy life of this single mom of 5. So this is the breakdown of my new planner.

Sections:
Monthly--This is were I keep my schedule. It's enough for me to write "Doc appt-mom 2pm" I have ample white space on each monthly calender to write details such as telephone number, address, etc.

Daily--This is where I had fun. I went for the 2 page spread. On the 1st page I have Appointments, To Call, To Write, Errands, Self Minder (includes Quiet Time & Journal, Exercise, Family Time, Prayer & Bible Study), Family (includes Homework & Chores), Holidays/Reminders and Notes
On the 2nd page I have Memory Verse, Declutter, Internet Search, Books Read/To Read and Future Goals

On a busy day, I may forget to check my kid's homework and they won't remind me, now I have a reminder every day. I can keep track of websites I visited in one place instead of on post-it notes. It was easy to type this up in Word and just print it to size and punch holes in the pages.

Lists--I like to keep lists. Here I have my cleaning schedule, gift ideas, library lists, To Buy list, master to do list, etc. If it can be put in list form, I'll do it.

Notes--This is where I keep misc. stuff. If it's a one time deal, I'll put it here. I was calling around trying to find cheap car insurance, this is where I put the info.

Quotes--I'm also a quote addict. I'm always writing down clever or funny quotes I've heard or read.

Addresses--This one's kinda explains itself. I do keep one or two extra sheets of paper in this section for jotting down misc. names and numbers.

I had so much fun doing this, that I've knocked out most of my Christmas and Kwanzaa gifts for this year. I'm going to have my kids decorate planner pages for their aunties with various themes, such as Black History, Faith/Religious and Motherhood.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Enough about me, what are your plans this weekend?

I'm starting now to make gifts for the year and need fresh, new ideas. These need to be simple and fairly cheap to make. Gift ideas for all occasions, ages and sexes are welcome. Since I want to have gifts on hand all year long they need to keep well so no food. Wait, I like to eat, so if you have some good recipes, send those on too.

I found a lady that does pictures really cheap, so me and the kiddos went and mugged for the camera. I was all stressed out about getting and keeping everyone dressed up and looking nice, then thought, "Let's be smart about this." I had resolved to live a simpler and less stressful life. So we all put on Ohio State gear (I call it the intentional casual) and off we went. So near to the holidays, it was a nice stress-free way to get pictures to include in our holiday cards.
Ain't my babies cute?