WFMW - Extending Battery Life

Here's a quick tip I learned from my cousin when I became a real estate appraiser. The last thing you want to have happen on an appraisal is for your batteries to die. If that happens, you have to schedule another time to come out and take pictures and reinspect. So if your batteries ever die in your camera and you don't have replacements, here's what you do:

1. Take all batteries out.

2. Rub batteries between hands.

3. Put batteries back in camera.

4. Take 2-3 more pictures.

5. Repeat if needed.

This will give you a couple more pictures each time. I have done this four times back to back and was able to get 12 more pictures after my batteries died the first time. I wonder how long it would keep working, maybe I'll have to test that some time.

For more great tips and ideas head to Shannon's blog where she hosts Works for me Wednesday every week.

My previous WFMW posts:

Sweet Spinach Bread
Library Bags
Letterboxing
Curling Ribbon
Safe Plastics
5 Ingredients or Less
Laundry Tip
DIY Lip Gloss
Tips for Clothes Shopping with girls
How to teach a child to swallow pills
Removing old stickers, adhesive, etc.
Easy Hair Bow Instructions
Managing school papers
Fall Traditions
Coupon Binder
Toys Worth Buying - Board Games

DC minus 2.5 million

Here we are waiting for the inauguration to start.



Can you believe the awesome seats we got?

Nothing can beat sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial overlooking the mall.









Notice anything missing? How about 2+ million people? Okay so we weren't actually there today, these pictures are from our last visit to the Lincoln memorial just over a month ago when my sister was visiting.

Living in northern VA means that we often get to visit the monuments whenever we have company. But no matter how many times I've been to the Lincoln memorial, it never fails to inspire me. I don't think it is possible to be there without feeling such a strong sense of reverence and awe for such a remarkable man and an enormous sense of hope and pride for our country.



Spencer read every word of this . . .



and this . . .



. . . much to Ella's chagrin.


I couldn't get over how beautiful the sky was that cold day. It is amazing how many things have happened on those very steps.

We visited other monuments but I'll save those pictures for another time maybe.




One last look at the Washington monument before heading home:

Target - Sale is on!

Quick update - Looks like the sale is on almost everywhere now. Most stores started the 75% off yesterday, including my local Target. I'm so sad I didn't get a chance to go yesterday. We had New Beginning's last night at church and I was doing last minute things all day for that. I'm now going to brave the bitter cold to see what's left. Hope everyone got some great deals!

Target 75% off Toys!

So if I have any readers left after my hiatus from blogging, I have a great tip for you. Sources say that the huge toy clearance is happening either tomorrow (Jan. 14th) or the following Weds. (Jan 21st). Everything I have read points to tomorrow being the day. Target typically does this twice a year and I LOVE this sale. I buy almost all my birthday gifts for the year here. I plan on being there tomorrow at opening. If the sale is tomorrow I will update my blog and let you know. Happy shopping!

ETA: Baby and toddler clothes are 75% off right now!

One Big Helping of Mommy Guilt

Just as I was getting over bronchitis a couple of weeks ago - Ella came down with a cold. Her symptoms seemed different from mine and she was still running around nonstop so I didn't think much of it. One night as I was getting her ready for bed, Ella looked up at me and said "Mama I so sick, why you not take me to my doctor." She looked so pathetically cute. You have to understand that Ella is our resident drama queen. She will sit and search her body for little spots that need immediate band-aid attention. She LOVES to announce what is ailing her. So I told her she just had a cold and would be better in a few days. A couple more days go by and Ella was still running a low fever and had developed a cough so I debated whether or not to take her in. My kids somehow usually make a miraculous recovery on the way to doctors appointments and I'm always told they have a virus and to let it run its course. Ella still seemed fine (she was playing as usual) but something in the back of my mind kept nagging me to make an appointment. So I called and got her an appointment fully expecting to be told the usual "it's a virus, etc."

We got to the office and went back to do her vitals. The crazy thing is her oxygen sats were low. We had to stay their for hours while they did three different breathing treatments. This isn't a new thing for us. Ella has needed breathing treatments/inhalers before (back when she was under 2). But in the past, I would hear the wheezing, labored breathing, or the tightness in her chest. This time - everything sounded completely clear to me. It kind of freaked me out that her sats were low without me noticing a change. I felt so bad that I hadn't taken her in sooner - especially after she kept asking me to call the doctor.

We were sent home with a nebulizer which Ella loved. The doctor told her it was just like breathing clouds. True to her dramatic self, Ella loved recanting the whole story to anyone who would listen. When it was time for her next treatment at home she announced to Lance and Spencer that they must come watch. She then very ceremoniously put the mask on and would dab at her eyes every couple of minutes with a tissue. She is such a ham.

After six days of using the nebulizer and a couple more doctor visits, we were finally able to return it. Hallelujah - no more steroids.

We spent this past week with lots of cuddling on the couch. We are all finally healthy again and BOTH kids will be in school tomorrow. Now I just need to get my house cleaned . . .

New Year's Eve Traditions

I'm still here - I just caught a horrible case of bronchitis. I hope to be able to update my blog more regularly again by next week but I wanted to quickly share some of our New Year's Eve traditions, it's one of my kids favorite nights of the year.

New Years Eve for us is a family night. We stay up until midnight playing all the different games the kids (and adults) got for Christmas. My parents did this when I was a kid and I remember loving that we had their complete attention for a good 5 hours. We start the night with pizza and soda - this year I making double stuffed crust pizza at the request of Spencer. I try to have pictures out at the table of the past year and we talk about our year and the year ahead. We try and make at least one family resolution for the new year. Then we break out the games!

Some other things we do to make the night more special -

- We set all the alarm clocks in the house to go off at midnight.

- We each eat 12 grapes as the clock strikes midnight to bring 12 months of good luck.

- We watch the countdown together and then go bang pots and pans. I think this year we are going to have everyone leap off the couch and chairs (i.e. leaping into the New Year).

- I try to make (or buy) different fun snack food that the kids don't usually have.

There have been years where we have done nothing but play games and eat pizza, and years where I have gone all out with extra stuff - but what the kids remember most is the time spent with them.

This year if I feel up to it, we are heading down to Old Town in the evening to participate in some of the First Night Family Activities but we will be home in plenty of time for family game night.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We have so enjoyed the family time this past week (even with bronchitis and all). I would love to hear your New Year's Eve plans. What do you do to ring in the New Year?

My Favorite Nativity 2008

12 Days of Christmas - Nativity

I am so in love with this idea of counting down the 12 days of Christmas with the Nativity. Every day you add a piece to the Nativity and read the poem or story that goes along with it. We started tonight and will end on Christmas Eve but if you want to do it there is still time to start tomorrow and end on Christmas Day. It couldn't be easier - all you need is the nativity. And if you don't have that, I would find pictures on the internet, print them up, and add them that way.

My MIL gave us this nativity a couple of years ago and it is one of my favorite things to get out every year at Christmas time. The kids can play with it nonstop without fear of damaging it. Ella has been moving the pieces around for days as she tells the story of Jesus's birth in her own words. She also has been adding her own version of the story as she goes along, I think once I even heard mention of McDonald's somewhere in there.

Tonight we took all the pieces away except the trees and put them in a box. This really got her attention. We told both kids that we are celebrating Christ's birth in 12 days and we are going to learn each night a little more about the event. Tonight we started with Mary. Along with the poem found on the link above, I included a scripture and talked about the different things thatMary did as a mother. We then placed just Mary on the nativity. Ella loved hearing about Mary because she is playing her in her preschool's Christmas program.

This whole thing lasted approx. 5 minutes. We did it right after dinner while everyone was still in one spot. I'm hoping that by focusing on one character each night, it will give the kids a greater understanding of the significance of Christ's birth.

Thrift store to the rescue

I know we have all moved on to Christmas but indulge me with a Thanksgiving post - I never got a chance to get this up!


So I've mentioned that we hosted Thanksgiving this year at my house at last minute notice. Have I mentioned that I'm a perfectionist?? That once I have an idea in my head I can't let it go??? I really wish I could change this about myself - so does Lance :)

Well . . . upon finding out that we were having Thanksgiving here, I decided I had to have all white matching dishes, among a billion other things to make the day perfect. I knew I couldn't justify it to Lance though. Enter Goodwill. I was there gathering up some cheap frames to alter when I got the brilliant idea to check the dishes. I had to dig and dig but ended up walking away with 16 place settings for just over $30!!! Pretty spiffy, huh? They are such nice dishes that I ran through the dishwasher which made them look sparkly and new. I also was able to score some great Pottery Barn Thanksgiving dishes for the kids table . . . I will have to dig up a pic of that.



For the runner I got a piece of burlap from Walmart for $5. I like it so much both the pinecones and runner are staying up through Christmas. I think it goes well with my nativity and garland. It will be super easy to change the place settings to a more Christmasy feel by just changing out the napkins and wheat.

I got so many compliments on Thanksgiving. I usually feel the need to divulge all my good deals but kept my mouth shut for once - pretty impressive for me - although now all my secrets are out.

An oldie but a goodie - recipe

I got this recipe from my SIL Michelle when I was a young newlywed (11+) years ago when Lance and I were both in college. We loved it but hardly ever made it because in those days a dish that required both cream cheese and parmesan cheese was too expensive for our tastes. I forgot completely about it until yesterday afternoon when suddenly I had such a craving for it. Strange that I can remember something clearly from over a decade ago but ask me what we did yesterday and I'll have no idea. Anyway, I checked our family recipe book to see if the recipe was in there and it was!

When I made it, I used a bunch of chicken tenderloins (approx. 14) instead of the 8 chicken breasts. I grilled them instead of boiling, chopped them up, and set aside some for Spencer before adding to the broccoli and cheese sauce.

Dinner was so yummy last night. Perfect winter dish. Did you know that broccoli contains omega-3 EFAs? It is great to eat dark green veggies in the winter months because they contain omega-3s which helps boost our moods during the months when we are getting less sunshine. Pretty cool, eh? So while you're lamenting the fact that you are eating a calorie laden divine sauce of parmesan cheese and cream cheese, just remind yourself that you are getting LOTS of broccoli with it which your body needs (at least that is what I told myself - I'm the queen of rationalization).

Here's the recipe -

2 big heads of broccoli
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
8 chicken breasts
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic salt
2 cups milk
2 packages of 8 oz. cream cheese

Cut broccoli into mini trees and place on bottom of casserole dish. Boil chicken and cut it into thin slices. Put sliced chicken on top of broccoli.

Cheese sauce: On low heat, combine milk, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, salt, and garlic salt. Beat until smooth.

Pour cheese sauce over chicken and broccoli. Bake on 350 for 25 minutes, uncovered.

Garland Party

Okay ladies, after hours and hours (not kidding) of wrestling this garland, here's the end result. The garland is hung over the sideboard in my dining room which is where we place our nativity. I wish I was a fabulous photographer and could show you what it actually looks like but you'll have to rely on my description. The garland looks much bulkier in real life, not so wimpy! I wrapped three strands of garland together (one prelit) and threw in some of these thingies:



I also added some more pinecones where it looked bare. This next picture is the most true to life - it escaped the yellowy glow!



Here's the garland from another angle. Check out the cute elf's clothes we have hanging on a clothesline in cut-out into our kitchen. My mom picked those up this year. So fun!



Here are a couple more close-ups. I surprised myself by not needing my handy dandy glue gun. Everything is just twisted and placed in. Super easy. The hours and hours I spent were trying to secure the HEAVY garland. When mere nails wouldn't do it, my husband stepped in with some majorly strong screws.





I'm happy with the end result. I might throw one more string of white lights in the mix. I'm finishing up the kid's garland over the fireplace in the basement. We have a total 1950's retro theme down there and the fireplace is turning out surprisingly cute. I will post pics soon!

Thanks Nester for your original garland post! Can't wait to see everyone's garlands!!

MIA . . . again!

After blogging every day for the month of November, I can't believe it has been so long since my last post! I caught the flu right after Thanksgiving (yuck!) and then my chronic illness flared. I wish I could say I've been bedridden (that sounds glorious!) but I've been super busy with joy school, Young Women's, work, and all the fun stuff that goes along with Christmas. I'm seeing my doctor tomorrow morning for a new symptom that I think might be a major clue to what is going on with my body. I'll be blogging more this week. I have so many pictures to share - We scored a private tour of the West Wing of the White House!!! Spencer was in heaven. Can you believe there are only 15 days until Christmas???

One of my favorite Christmas traditions

Every year around Thanksgiving I buy myself some free time by handing the kids some toy catalogues and having them circle what they want out of them. BIG MISTAKE! This year it has totally backfired! Ella circled every. single. thing. The girl literally wants everything. And if she doesn't want it for herself, she wants it for her friend Josh. She is constantly talking about EVERYTHING she is getting for Christmas. Spencer is more selective in his desires but has taken to reminding me 10 million times a day about what he should be getting for Christmas. Ugh. We definitely will not be doing the catalogue thing anymore. I realized last week that we need an intervention over here fast. I started to think about ways to make this year's Christmas season more meaningful when I remembered one of the Christmas traditions my mom always did with us which is absolutely perfect.

At the beginning of December, my mom would set out an empty manger sitting on top of a bed of hay. She would explain to us that the manger was empty and it was up to us to fill it with hay for baby Jesus before Christmas. She would put all of our names in a hat and we would each draw a name. Every time you did a secret act of service for your person, you got to place a piece of straw in the manger. The service had to be secret - if you got caught it didn't count. Every week we would draw new names.

I remember loving this as a kid. I'm not sure how many years we actually did it, but it left a strong impression on me. I remember the first year thinking the manger would never get filled and then excitedly trying to do my part to fill it. I remember how much love I felt when I realized someone in my family had made my bed for me or did one of my chores. One time I drew one of my siblings names who had particularly been getting on my nerves. I remember not wanting to do any thing at all for them. But as I looked for things I could do to make their life easier, I was granted a new perspective and was able to see that person in a completely different light.

We will be setting up an empty manger tomorrow night with the kids. My hope is that this Christmas instead of focusing on "what can I get," they will be more focused on "what can I give." I have high hopes that it will make the same impact here in our home. We have several other traditions we do every year, but this one will be new to us.

I would love to hear some of the things you do in your home to make the season more meaningful!

Christmas Kickoff

We took the kids tonight to see the annual tree lighting at Fairfax Corner. It is such a fun community celebration with free horse and carriage rides, Santa, hot chocolate and cookies, carolers, and entertainment. This soldier on stilts definitely stole the show. Any question he asked, Ella took very very seriously. I think she believes he works for Santa. The little boy bundled up in the back of the picture is my nephew Logan (visiting from Arizona). It was a great way to begin the Christmas season.

One more Advent idea

I am seriously in love with Christmas Advents. I would have one in every room in the house if I could get away with it. I'm trying to remind myself that having a lot would take away from the specialness of each one. In this case I think it definitely is quantity over quality.

But I just can't resist this Christmas Book and Activity Advent from The Crafty Crow. Every day for the month of December they will be listing one children's Christmas book to read to your kids plus a craft that goes along with it. How much fun is that? They have the list of books up right now so that you have time to go to the library or purchase them.

I don't know if this is one we will do every day of December but it will be fun to at least do some of them.

Anybody get any good deals shopping today? I ended up in my doctor's office all day with a migraine. Yucky for me - but happy for my bank account. :)