Susannah's Garden Book Review

Susannah's Garden by Debbie Macomber was on my list of books to read about Blossom Street.  I luckily found it while I was at the library with my son.  I quickly grabbed it so that I could get started on my next book.  I was really excited that I remembered the name of the one that I needed because I keep a notebook and never remember to take it to the library with me.  Do you ever do that?  I find that if I keep the next few books in the series on reserve that I can check on the computer at the library really quickly after leaving my notebook at home.  It would probably also be a really good idea to remember my notebook but this is the happy alternative :)

This book was about Susannah dealing with the death of her father and then six months later putting her mother in an assisted living facility because she was getting a little forgetful.  Susannah comes back to her home town and re-connected with long lost friends.  It is a great relief to her to have a support system to lean on because she is having a hard time dealing with all of the pressure.  She had fallen out of touch with her best friend who was with her oversees at boarding school and remained her friend for awhile after.  With all of the issues she was dealing with cleaning up her mother's house, she learns more than she ever knew about her father and how much he really did love her.  She had thought for many years that he only loved his son who died right before his 21st birthday and lived with a lot of pain to be brought up by someone who doesn't love you.  She learns through the help of a few surprises that her family loved her and she loves her new family exactly the same way.  Pick up this book to find out all the twists and turns that Susannah's Garden has to offer!!!

I hope that you check out Debbie Macomber and her wonderful characters on Blossom Street.  I know that I have liked meeting them and I look forward to getting the next book from the library soon.  I know that you will see a few more reviews this month for this series!!!

Teacher Appreciation Week

I am surprised every year when there is teacher appreciation week right before school ends.  We do the Christmas present and then there is a gap and two presents right in a row.  I planned on the end of the school gifts and I was ready to roll until I realized that I needed two gifts so I quickly got creative.

Luckily I was searching the blogs to find some ideas on what to do and I found this blog with lots of teacher appreciation sayings.  I think that I need to use one for teacher appreciate and then one for the end of the year done in one swoop!!!  Check out my top 6 choices:

“Thanks for giving our child a hand” tag with hand lotion

“You are ‘tea’rrific!” tag with selection of teas

“You are one smart cookie” tag with homemade cookies

“Thanks for helping me grow” tag with flower seeds or a plant

“You have been just ‘write’ this year!” package of nice pencils or pens in a case or container

“Thanks for helping me become a real ‘smartie’ pants!” tag attached to package of Smarties

The winner for teacher appreciation day was the one that I could get the easiest because I didn't get it done early enough again!!!  Check the original post here for her cute lotion idea or look below for the picture of my finished product.  I hope that the teachers like these :)  We also had one day of flowers and one day when all the kids wore yellow shirts (because they are ducks). 

Luckily, teacher appreciation is over now but now it is time to start planning the next thing.  I am going to try to start on the end of the year gift soon so that I don't have any last minute issues!!  Our school year ends in two weeks so I hope to start on the work soon.  I have a bag of Simple Pleasure Hershey's Chocolate in a bag with buttons and I am making clips with buttons on them to close the bag and they can reuse it.  I looked through my button container so now I have to find the picture online that prompted my idea.  I will show you some pictures when I am done.  Here is hoping that you have some ideas on what to do for your teachers :)

Cold Service Book Review

Cold Service (Spenser) by Robert B. Parker was my next book in the series and I just happened to have it sitting on my shelf from my mom.  I was glad when I picked it up to get back to the Spenser series.

In this book, Hawk is shot and almost dies protecting a man, Luther Gillespie, and his family after being threatened by the Ukrainian mob.  The youngest son survives because he was at daycare at the time so Hawk is determined for someone to provide a trust fund for that child to grow up.  Hawk also wants to avenge the shooting so Spenser helps him without question.  Hawk has issues with his girlfriend at the time because he tells her that he doesn't want to see her until he is stronger and back to his old self.  He encounters other issues with the Ukrainian involvement with Tony Marcus, the black mobster, who is allowing his son-in-law to run a business in the Ukrainian territory with an agreement that the Ukrainians are doing business in his territory.  There are a few battles that have Hawk doing a lot of the dirty work but also the investigation to find all the people involved in the shooting.  Pick it up at the local bookstore or library near you to find all the suspenseful scenes!!

I hope that you check out the Robert Parker books especially the Spenser series.  These books are all a little different and enough the same that they are all great.  I picked up the next two books at the library when I stopped there to pick up my papers so they are next on the list :)  Hope they are on your list too!!!

Thrifty Thursday: Stretching Your Salsa

Do you like salsa?  Well, we love salsa in this house and my husband insists that it is a summer food that should be in the house all summer.  Salsa is a pretty expensive item (especially since my husband can eat a jar in one sitting).  It is now part of my favorite new salsa sloppy joe recipe so I have to make sure I have enough for all our summer time treats.

First, I would like to tell you that we do not like chunks.  Although we love the flavor of salsa, my husband and I are not fans of the chunks of tomato, onion and pepper that are in most salsas.  Years ago, we learned a great trick from our friend Robb.  He blends it!  What?!  He puts it in the blender and blends it smooth.  It makes the flavor spread through out the salsa so that you get a little taste of all of the flavors in one bite.  It is the best tip that we have ever learned. 

I found a new recipe online for making salsa from a can of Rotel.  I thought it sounds like a great idea but I didn't have all the needed ingredients but I had the jar of Rotel.  If you want to check out the recipe, please click here and let me know how it goes but I had it on the back burner to make next time.

I decided to throw the Rotel in the blender with my jar of salsa to add a little volume to the jar to stretch it a little farther.  I filled the jar back up and got another container of the additional salsa.  It was a great flavor and added a little bit more to something that is usually much more expensive.

Pick up a jar of your favorite salsa (with a coupon if you are me) and add a jar of Rotel and see what you think.  This is what it looks like after it is blended.  We give it two thumbs up!!  If you haven't tried it, I promise you will like it!!!

I have my batch ready to go to make another batch of Salsa Sloppy Joes which are my new addiction.  YUM!

Shared at EMM Church Supper and Swap and Share Sunday at Spatulas on Parade

Kid Math: ABC Math Riddles Book

ABC Math Riddles by Jannelle Martin was on the shelf at the library when I went looking for some math books to use with my four year old.  He is currently really into riddles and jokes so I thought that it might work two things together for a fun learning experience.

The pages have a fill in the blank word at the top followed by a poem to figure out what the word blank should be.  An example of one that I really liked was:

H starts my name, X fills in the third space.
My straight sides make my unique base.
A triangle I'm not,
six angles I've got.
A polygon fine, I'm a special design.
Can you give it a try?  What shape an I?

The picture on the page is of an elephant with a soccer ball.  The hexagon is red and in the center of the ball so that you can count the sides and figure out the shape.  It is easy enough to figure out the number and then work towards figuring out the shape if they aren't familiar with the word.  There was one for a rectangle and triangle but none for other shapes.  I am thinking that a geometry one would be good to use all the shapes and have the pictures and rhymes.

Here is an example of one that I didn't even get on the first try:

I start with a V, there's an L at the end.
I'm straight up and down and I never bend.
Like a skyscraper high,
I point to the sky.
Power poles point up like me.
What, oh what, can I be?

Here is your only hint on the page- there is a tower of animals with mouse sitting on a penguin on a bunny on a cat on a dog on an elephant.  In case it took you two reads and you still couldn't figure it out.  The answer is vertical.  Not exactly a kid term right?  Is it only me??

Final review, it was a great book from the library but not something that I would use over and over to justify buying so check out your local library and see if they have it to read!  I think that these would be fun to put on front and back of flash cards or on laminated papers for the kids to fill in the words.  This book was a little more advanced that a four year old because some of the words (like odd, even, numeral, and others) are not words that they know but it is nice way to introduce them.  With a little bit of creativity, you might be able to come up with a few that would work for your kids and a great way to have them learn it.

Hope you read the book with your little learners and see how many they figure out!

Grapefruit Oatmeal Muffins

I decided to finally make the grapefruit oatmeal muffins that I saw on this blog.  The name of the blog makes me laugh but super easy to remember South in your Mouth, right??  I don't think that they are still blogging but there are a ton of great recipes there to check out.  I changed the recipe to fit my family a little because we are a non-chunk family.  Plus, I was pretty sure that my son and husband do not like grapefruit!! 

I juiced the grapefruit a little while ago and had all of the juice in the fridge waiting to make this recipe.  I finally forced myself to make them.  Boy am I happy!!  We all ate two for snack time :)

First, heat the grapefruit juice on the stove.

Remove from heat and add a stick of butter and 1 cup of oats.  I used quick oats because I thought it would lead to less texture.... remember, my family doesn't like texture.

Cover and let sit for 20 minutes.

During that time, mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Add in the beaten eggs and the mixture from the pot on the stove.

Mix well and the batter comes together easily.

Put in greased muffin tins and bake for 15-20 minutes.  Mine only took 15 minutes to get nice around the edges but not too brown.

Then, you should wait for them to cool but if you can't wait, eat after blowing on them :)

I hope that you try out this recipe and see how you and your family like it!!  I know that I am going to be making it again soon.  I think that I might also try it with some apple juice that we have in the fridge so that I can use it up.  The apple juice was sitting there waiting for inspiration because it was the sparkling kind and it was no longer sparkling.  I hope that this recipe leads you to try a few changes of your own.  Make sure you check out the original recipe here, just in case your family is interested in the original.

Grapefruit Oatmeal Muffins
courtesy of TexaSweet Citrus Marketing

Ingredients:
2 red grapefruit (or more if you have them)
1 cup old fashioned oats (or quick oats)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Juice grapefruit.  Measure the grapefruit juice and add enough water to make 1 1/4 cups of liquid. Pour this liquid into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in oats and butter; let stand for 20 minutes covered.  Don't worry if the butter isn't mixed in because it will melt even if you leave it whole.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a muffin pan. Combine remaining ingredients into a mixing bowl. Stir in the oats mixture and blend well.

Pour into the greased muffin pan and bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes

Shared at EMM Church Supper and Swap and Share Sunday at Spatulas on Parade

Menu Plan Monday 5/6

Monday- Speidie Chicken with white rice
Tuesday- Leftovers (Mommy wasn't feeling so good)
Wednesday- Sloppy Joes
Thursday- House Autry Chicken tenders and tater tots
Friday- Breakfast for dinner??
Saturday- leftovers/Simple Fried Rice with potstickers and egg rolls
Sunday- leftovers/??

I don't have any clue what I am going to make this week but this seems the best guess that I have.  I am hoping to have the week go well but in case it doesn't, we have a frozen pizza or a lasagna as a back up for an exhausted Mommy who can't cook :)  Hope you have a good week planned!!!