Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

With the start of fall today, I thought I would share one of my favorite pumpkin recipes. This is from my husband's family's cookbook.

1 (16 oz.) pkg. pound cake mix
3 eggs
2 Tbs butter, melted
4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 (8oz.) pkg. cream cheese
1 (14oz.) can condensed milk (Eagle Brand)
1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. chopped nuts

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixer bowl, on low speed, combine cake mix, 1 egg, butter, and 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, until crumbly. Press into bottom of 15 x 10 - inch jellyroll pan. Set aside.

In a large mixer bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add sweetened condensed milk, then eggs, pumpkin, remaining pumpkin pie spice and salt. Mix well. Pour over crust. Sprinkle nuts on top. Bake 30 minutes or until set. Cool, then cut in bars. Store in fridge.

You can leave the nuts off if you are allergic or do not like nuts.

Be Careful With Your Pronunciation

I use to be a children's leader at Bible Study Fellowship. One week when we were planning our lesson about the woman at the well, the leader's manual said to be careful and say well not whale. Make sure the children understand it is a well.

I thought that is silly. The children would not confuse well and whale, but I made sure and explain that it was a well were they would get their drinking water in biblical times. That they did not have water faucets like we do.

Well, the very next Sunday when we were leaving church I asked my son what his bible story was this week. He said it was about Jesus and a Dolphin. My husband and I looked at each other very confused and wondered what they were teaching our children. Well, we went through a list of things that we thought the story could be about and he kept insisting it was about Jesus and a Dolphin. Then I remembered my Bible Study Fellowship lesson. I then proceeded to ask him if it was about Jesus and a whale. He said yes that was it! Well my husband and I had to reteach the story to him and make sure he understood what a well was not a whale.

So the lesson I learned, so well from my son, was to watch the way you pronounce things. You never know who might think you are talking about Jesus and a Dolphin.

Another great giveaway

Thrifty and Chic Mom has done it again!! She has a great giveaway over at her blog for some FuzziBunz. I really hope I win!! I have been wanting to try cloth diapers, but afraid to spend the money on them. So go check out her blog if you would like to win some too!!
http://www.thriftyandchicmom.com/2008/09/fuzzibunzonlinecom-giveaway.html

Fruit Smoothies

Last night I had a bad night with baby. I do not know how many times I got up to put his pacifier in his mouth and pat his back. When he got up at his normal wake up time of 7:00 I nursed him and put him back to bed. He was so tired from his night that he went back to sleep.

My wonderful husband got up with the other two kids and they had planned to go pick up Chick-fil-A breakfast. Well, they got sidetracked and when baby and I got up at 9:00 they were still home. I suggested we put some biscuits in the oven and make fruit smoothies. I have never made fruit smoothies, but I figured it could not be hard and I was right.

So here is what I did:
1 small container of frozen sweetened strawberries
1 banana
1/2 lg container of plain yogurt
a little milk

I put 1/2 of the strawberries in the blender and pureed them. I then added a banana and mixed them together well. Then I added the yogurt and a splash of milk and mixed well. I wanted a more strawberry flavor so I added the rest of the strawberries at this point. Then we poured it into glasses and enjoyed!!

It was much cheaper than Chick-fil-A and probably healthier. Of course the canned biscuits with butter are not that healthy, but they were good.

Another giveaway

Here is another neat giveaway. Check out Thrifty and Chic Mom. She is giving away a cute minky bunny from Whimsical Stork.
http://www.thriftyandchicmom.com/2008/09/whimsical-stork-giveaway.html

Giveaway

Check out Mommies with Cents. She is giving away a spa playset. I hope I win one. That would be a great Christmas present!
http://www.mommieswithcents.com/2008/09/review-giveaway-spa-fantasy-playset.html

Black Bean Salsa

I just returned from my weekend away. Well, it was kind of away. It was only 30 minutes away and baby went with me. It was still a good time and break. There was no house to be cleaned, no dinner to be cooked, no laundry to be washed, and someone else cooked for me. I had girl time all weekend long. It is nice to have time to just spend with friends.

We all bring snacks and I had a request to bring this dip. Everyone always want the recipe for this, so I thought I would post it.

2 cans black beans, rinsed
1 can white shoe peg corn
1 can rotel
1/2 red onion chopped
6 tbs olive oil
6 tbs lime juice
6 tbs Italian dressing
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional)

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Refrigerate overnight and serve with chips or wrap in soft tortillas.

Walgreens

I had a great week at Walgreens. I made two trips this week.

I went on Sunday and had two transactions.

My first transaction consisted of the following:

3 Robitussin @ 3.99 each

1 Chex Mix @ .99

I had 3/$3 Robitussin coupons

1/$1 Chex mix

I spent 4.13 with tax and received $10 RR

My second transaction consisted of the following:

3 Dimetapp @ 3.99 each

1 Chex Mix @ .99

I had 3/$2 Dimetapp coupons

1/$1 Chex mix

I spent 7.13 with tax and received $10 RR

I went back on Thursday and had a big trip.

Visine 3.99

Tylenol cold 4.99

2 Tylenol Allergy 4.99 each

2 Windex wipes 2.49 each

Pert Plus 3.79

2 Windex spray 2.49 each

Shout 2.49

2 Scrubbing Bubbles action scrubber 3.79 each

Crest Pro Heath mouthwash 4.49

3 Hand Sanitizers .99 each

I had the following coupons:

2/2.75 Scrubbing bubbles action scrubber

2/1.00 Windex spray

3/1.00 Tylenol

2/.75 Windex wipes

1/2.00 Pert Plus

1/3.00 Visine

Wags IVC Tylenol 3.00

Wags IVC Visine 2.00

2/$10 RR

My total with tax was 12.89 which I used my gift card and received $2 RR, $4.50 RR, $4 RR, and a $10 RR. I also have a wag rebate for the Pert Plus and MIR rebates for the Action Scrubber.

And to think I almost skipped Walgreens this week. I was worried about having enough money this week, but it turns out they paid me!!

busy days

I just realized it is Wednesday night and I have not posted anything this week. What have I been doing?

We have been schooling everyday this week. I think this will be our first full week of schooling. We are starting to see some new things introduced and Number 1 son had his first phonics test of the year. He did great on it.

Another thing I have been doing is Walgreens!! Walgreens has had some great deals this week. Check out MoneySavingMom.com and CommonSensewith Money.com to see all of the deals. I am planning a big trip tomorrow with spending little out of pocket. I will post pictures and detailed explanation of what I have done tomorrow night.

And my last thing that has kept me busy is I am planning a weekend away from my family. There is a group of girls from church that I go scrapbooking with for a weekend twice a year. I will not be totally away from my family. Baby will have to come with me since he is still nursing, but he is such a good baby that I think I will be able to get something done. Another one of the girls has a baby that is a month younger than Seth and he will be coming too.

I am planning on posting a couple of recipes soon. Be sure to come back and check those out.

A chair full of clothes

In our town we have a biannual kids clothing sale. You can sell the clothes that your kids have outgrown and buy new ones for the next season. The clothes have to be free of stains and tears.

I have been participating in this sale since it started. Before we had one here I would travel to one that was held in Little Rock. I love that I can buy everything my kids need for the season at once. Before there was not much for bigger boys, but this year I found more for number 1 son than anyone else. I was so surprised!!

Last night when I brought all of these home my kids were so excited. Number 1 son was the most excited. He had to try on everything. He kept saying, "Thank you Mommy, Thank You!"

So for all of these clothes, enough for 3 kids, I paid about $300. I also bought some shoes that I did not get in the picture. These clothes are all name brand too!! They are Gap, Old Navy, Gymboree and Children's Place. Sometimes you can even find boutique brand clothing.

You can choose to sell your clothes at 1/2 price on the last day of the sale. I did not find many pajamas and I also need a play coat for princess. I am going to try to go back on Saturday and see if I can find any more bargains.

My best bargain was the coat I bought for Number 1 son. It is a wool coat that looks brand new for $5. I was so excited. I even found a similar one for baby. Now the boys can dress alike. I also found a corduroy blazer for Number 1 son that looks just like one his Daddy has. they can dress alike too!

God is good

This year I was not very excited to start schooling. I think I have mentioned before that we have had a lot going on lately. We had a baby and moved and I was also planning on starting Princess on some schoolwork. I have been just worn out lately and the thought of shipping my kids off to school somewhere has been very appealing.

But then God is always so good to show me why I need to keep on homeschooling. First an email was sent out on the homeschooling email list that I am on. It was a devotional from Crosswalk Homeschool Encouragement. In this email the author talks about how she had lost her joy in her daily activities as a Mom. She kept hearing in her mind that she should put the kids in school and be a career mom. That she was failing at teaching her kids. That she was doomed to failure. Then one day one of her children thanked her for teaching them. It was then that she realized that she had let the enemies voice in her head. She wondered how well things would have been going if she believed that her homeschooling venture was a success.

Another day I was looking through some blogs and I found a link here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh2VFkF7NLo to an interview with Steven Curtis Chapman about the loss of his daughter. From there I watched a music video dedicated to her. These made me think about how short time is with our kids. How I should cherish all of the time I have with them. God has given the desire to homeshool to my husband and I and I should thank him for that added time I have with my kids. The Bible clearly states that children are a blessing. Why would I want to send my blessings to someone else? Why would I let someone else have the blessing of watching their faces light up when they learn something?

So from there I started homeschooling last week. It went better than I could ever imagine. Both kids were excited and enjoyed it. Baby napped while we were working and I had plenty of time with both big kids.

So just as always God is so good to provide the encouragement that is needed just when it is

needed!!