"Mom, the book is so good that I can't stop reading!"

Today, K received the Kit Kittredge Collection book. She's a girl who loves herself some historical books.  She's been reading Those Happy Golden Years, which is a Little House on the Prairie book.  It is a bit more lengthy than I originally thought when I purchased it, but she's been working through it.  We added it to her other Little House books that we've picked up along the way.  Many have been purchased at a little Amish antique store that we visit when we're down that way.  She has a collection of AG Molly books, too.  She loves Magic Tree House and the adventures that they have.  It is wholesome reading that I don't have to worry about.  She learns different things, too.  Just like Addy.  We bought her the AG Addy book when we visited Gettysburg.  She read it most of the way home.  Occasionally, she would exclaim the current happenings from her spot in the back.  Going to Gettysburg, then reading a book on the way home about how slavery affected an American Girl named Addy truly drove home the lesson that we were trying to teach her about that part of our trip.

K absolutely loves reading.  She can't go in the car without a collection of books with her.  During break, she has logged in a bit of reading.  Grant you, she's slacked from her usual routine and hasn't read quite as much as she does during school.  Still, she has faithfully logged her reading times and I have to remember to sign them before she goes back.

That reminds me.  Flashlight was supposed to be out and the book closed 8 minutes ago.  I think I need to go double check.

Have a great night!

I tried to tickle my brain with a Q-Tip.

Yes, yes.  I know.  Q-Tips are technically for make-up use and craft projects.  I get it.  I'll preface before I even tell you my story.  I know that you shouldn't put them in your ear, but I do and I will again.

New Year's Day, I was in the bathroom and K- had called for me to come look at something.  I was being a busy, multi-tasking mom and decided that I'd grab up a Q-Tip, stick it gently in my ear, grab the flosser that I wanted, plunk it in my mouth and I'd be off and on my way.  It all worked and before I started hoofing it down the hall, I went to grab hold of the Q-Tip and ended up jamming it into my head instead.

Dang that hurt.  Tears didn't come to my eyes, but it was close.  I walk into the kitchen with the flosser still hanging out of my mouth while clutching my right ear.  At that same time, Hubs hobbled up the steps ouching about how he just banged his baby toe into the step.

We were quite the pair.  All the while, K- is sitting there, rubbing my arm and telling Hubs how sorry she was that he tried to rip a toe off.  Poor kid.

My ear pained.  There was no blood, so I was hopeful.  My hearing wasn't compromised, so that was promising.  I really didn't look forward to visiting my doctor to inform him that I was trying to tickle my brain, but instead tried to stab it with a Q-Tip.

Not good.

A couple of days and several Advil later, my ear feels like an ear again.  I promise not to multi-task with a Q-Tip sticking out of my ear.  I refuse to give up that good time feeling of a Q-Tip ridding me of squishy feeling ears after a bath.

No way.  No how.

Have a great night!

PS  I'm laughing because I do want y'all to realize that I knew that my brain wasn't right there.  :)  One heck of a sore eardrum was the stabbing recipient.  :S

Eating and not wasting.

I am embarrassed to admit that I cleaned out our freezer today and threw away far too many things.  I had meat that looked freezer burned, so that got flipped.  I had leftovers that were well intentioned on the freezer front, but moved their way to the back and were forgotten.

Never again.

I cleaned and restructured the freezer today.  Hubs wanted a Nutri Bullet, so we purchased him one with Christmas money.  I found that the grocery had frozen fruit on sale BOGO, so we've stocked up on that and the Greek yogurt that they had on sale.  He and K- can continue to enjoy their smoothies in the morning and at night.  Our freezer can accommodate their healthy snack choice.

I have basketed the meat.

I have basketed the vegetables.

Everything is well within sight.

I shall never freeze leftovers again.  They just get wasted.  :(

The grocery ad comes in Friday's mail.  We're going to sit as a family to map out the menu for the following week.  We'll take into account what we have on the downstairs shelves and in the fridge and freezer.

No more waste is our motto.

We had spaghetti tonight.  We enjoyed garlic butter crescent rolls and have some left for tomorrow.  Not only are we trying not to waste, but we are being more mindful of serving sizes.  I made the entire box of spaghetti noodles knowing that we wouldn't eat all of them, but I would have enough of everything left over for the following recipe.  It has been in my file for years and I decided that we shall try it tomorrow.  As I type, Hubs and K- are building a doodling robot and the Spaghetti Pie is baking for tomorrow.  Here goes:

Spaghetti Pie

8 oz. spaghetti noodles (we had whole wheat linguini noodles)
2 eggs, well beaten
2 T butter (or Smart Balance)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 1/2 cups Ricotta (Cottage Cheese for me!)
Mozzarella and Extra-Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated (whatever you have would work)
Spaghetti sauce

Boil noodles as directed on package and drain.  Return to pan and add the 2 T butter; stir until butter is melted; add the well-beaten eggs and grated Parmesan.  Pour into a well-buttered (or Pam) large deep dish pie plate; spread around bottom and up sides making your "crust."  Spread Ricotta (or Cottage Cheese!) over all the noodles.  Top with your spaghetti sauce; top with grated cheese (as much as you'd like.)  Bake at 350 F for approximately 20 minutes.

We've reused our leftovers before we could forget about them.  I have baked it already so that all I have to do tomorrow is to heat it up.

I'll continue to report our success and :gulp: failure, if we have any.

Ding!  Spaghetti pie is ready!

Have a great night!

The antics about the squirrel in a jar feeder.

Hubs and K made me a squirrel in a jar feeder as one of my Christmas gifts.  I used to have one, but Hubs gave it away.  He really doesn't quite know why, but he did.  It made me sad.  I've asked for one for years.  This year, they finally made me one.

The squirrels seem to love it.  :)

Hmm.  Let me see.  There has got to be more seed around here somewhere.

Ahhh!  I knew it!  I found this little bird feeder.  There is a darned baffle on the pole and I've already slid down the pole.  This one will do.

Stretch!  Reach!  

Oh no!  I'm swinging around crazy out here!  Help!

Have a great new year!

PS  I finally figured out how to transfer photos and drop them onto the blog.  The new computer configuration has had me a bit baffled, but I'm working through it.

Operation Christmas Child Box Report

Our box made it to Namibia!  We've had boxes go to Iraq, Georgia (the country, of course) and now Namibia.  It is a wonderful thing to be able to find out where your box went, so that you can pray for the recipient throughout the year.

If you sent a box out and found out where it got off to, let us know!