Elf somewhere

We received "elf on the shelf" as a gift last year. We hid it from our son, and this year, "Santa" left it on our porch!
I read the book, registered the elf, and a tradition has begun!
I'm not sure if parents use it as a behavior tool or what. I don't think that's fair or right, but that's my opinion!
But for us, I like the idea of tradition! Many people and families don't stick with traditions and more!
I want my family to have and keep traditions!

What traditions do you have? What did you do as a child?

Upcoming holidays stress free!

Cut down on stress everywhere you can! I will start with thanksgiving!
No more fighting for oven space!!! If you are hosting, dot be afraid to ask relative to bring a dish!
Cook your turkey first you don't want family waiting around for it!
We always cook the turkey first thing in the morning! And whatever dishes we want that are not being brought by a guest, we prepare after te turkey bc typically they are done much faster than the turkey!
Cooking ham? Cook it in the crockpot! The night before, place brown sugar in the bottom of your crockpot, then the ham, skin up, start it right before bed! And let it cook for 8-10hrs on low heat! It will be so tender and juicy!
Christmas is so easy, do homemade, if you can't then buy low priced items and make lil gift baskets for everyone!
Last year we bought everyone a $5 ceramic travel mug that came with a lid. Then a bunch of mini chocolates from the dollar store and two packs of hot chocolate per cup. All purchased either on sale, with coupons or from the dollar store! Spent less than $10 dollars per person! :)
Be creative, remember its not about gifts! But if you feel the need, it's the thought that counts! :)

Cheap, easy peach cobbler!

I discovered a cheap and easy, yummy way of making peach cobbler!!!!

All you do is mix 1 can of slices peaches, juice and all with biscuick!
Mix until its like a batter, or however you like! Thick or runny, lots of peaches or a few peaches! You can also make it with fresh peaches instead, just be sure to add sugar! :)
Bake in the oven set at 350, until golden brown!

Enjoy!

I love it fresh warm out the oven with a scoop of ice cream!

No cavities!!!

So I'm such a stickler when it comes to our son having candy! It has to be soft, or a sucker and even then I have rules!
Suckers- no biting it, suck the sucker or lick it. He usually don't finish it, he gets bored with it and prefers fruit anyways.
Soft candy- I give him 10-15 pieces and that's it! And he's happy with that!

He went to the dentist, he did great!!! And best of all, no cavities!!!!

My theory, teach good healthy habits now! As a baby snack was always fresh fruit, when given a choice of a small piece of candy or a large piece of fruit, he'll pick fruit!
Yay for healthy choices and no cavities!

Un-dry chicken salad!

     This is my new favorite way to make chicken salad, it's so yummy an not dry, and required little effort!!!
1) I start off with a package of split chicken breast, put the chicken in the crockpot (my setting simply says 4hr, 6hr, 8hr, and 10hr) I put mine on 6hrs, pour in water to cover the top of the chicken, and sprinkle in some spices of your choice!
2) once it's done I easily pull the bones right off! Toss the meat into a bowl, then take 2 forks and shred the chicken apart.
3) the following is all "to taste" mayo, pickles (chopped small like relish) some ground up celery powder, and dill weed (I like lots) I mix everything and taste as I go! :)
4) what to do with the left over juice????? I pour most of mine in a recycled pasta sauce jar! Home made chicken stock!!!

Warp speed ahead!!!!!

Ok, holy I'm a awful blogger!!! Sometimes my life takes the wheel and runs with it! So let's see here, Accutane, what a wonderful miracle drug! Took it for 4.5mths, started getting migraines daily, had a migraine for 9wks straight! Oops back up! Stopped Accutane July 16th, stopped all other migraine potential meds that I was taking to try to stop the migraine on August 13th. And somehow accidentally conceived on August 25th!
We were so scared of what could possibly be wrong with our baby bc of Accutane! She was born healthy and normal on May 8th 2012, via C-section bc she was breech and had a 3cm pocket of fluid!

We had nursing problems, which we fixed 3mths later! Turns out she had a tongue tie and lip tie!!! We had her tongue lasered by Dr.Kotlow in Albany NY!

Fast forward to today, we are all happy and healthy!!! ;)