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Just Doing My Best

Thursday, March 26, 2009

 

Frugal Family Fun - Holding Down the Fort

With part of the country snowed in, another fraction enduring long bouts of non-stop rain, and yet another starting Spring Break, this seems like the perfect week to stay home for the next idea in the Frugal Family Fun series.

I'm going to offer an old but favorite stand-by for kid fun, including ideas on how to make it even more memorable.



You will need:
Lots of blankets
clothes pins (to hold blankets together)
flash lights
an out of the way area of main room, i.e. corner of the family room, dining room, etc.
a movie and snacks


When we are cooped up inside, my children love to build a fort. It does not happen often, so when it does, it's a no-holds barred, all-consuming construction zone.

We have dining room that we do not use daily, so one day last winter, I cleared off the top of the table, and let the kids rule the room. They enclosed all four sides of the table with blankets and used blanket-covered chairs to create rooms and tunnels reaching clear to the perimeter of the room. They had a mansion complete with bedrooms and dual entrances.

When lunch time came, they understandably did not want to leave their mansion, so they opened a couple of "windows" and ate in their new abode. As the day wound down, and after a full day of building and tweaking their hide-out, they were excited to hear that they could leave it up for the next day...and the next day. They have also been known to have a sleep-over in their fort, with the obligatory movies, snacks, and flashlights.

While the children will enjoy the memories, I heard a friendship forming as they worked together as a team. Priceless lessons and memories for free.

Here's a Mommy Secret: If your children are old enough to not need constant supervision and enjoy this type of play, chances are they will be so consumed with this activity that you can tackle that unread book or home improvement project that has gone undone because little ones are underfoot.


This post is linked to:
Frugal Friday by Life as Mom

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# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Thursday, March 26, 2009 5 Comments

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

 

Prize Winning Texas Chili

As promised in my Ultimate Blog Party post, today I am sharing my favorite, prize winning chili recipe. This recipe comes from my grandpa in Texas, who you may remember from a previous post if you are a regular reader here, is a great cook.

Last weekend, our church had a chili cook-off and of 20+ pots of other chili, his recipe won! I am so excited because I make this for my family several times a year, every year and we love it.



Texas Chili


  • 2 cans jalapeno pinto beans
  • 2 cans diced tomatoes
  • 3 lbs ground beef
  • 1/2 cup parsley
  • 1 Tablespoon salt
  • 1 Tablespoon black pepper
  • 1/3 cup chili powder
  • 2 Tablespoons cumin
  • 2 large onions
  • 2 large bell peppers
  • 2 Tablespoons shortening or oil
  • 1 stick of butter
Saute diced onion and bell pepper in shortening until tender. Set aside. Brown meat in pan and pour off grease. Add butter and dry ingredients to meat; mix well. Add cooked onions, pepper, and parsley to the meat; mix well. Add beans, tomatoes and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and cook slowly 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

As you can see from the pic, sometimes I use a little less meat, onions, and green pepper for weeknight meals, just to keep the cost down. For the cook-off though, the recipe was followed precisely. We like it served with Fritos under the chili. OK, my mouth is watering just typing this out.

Hope you like it!

You can find this recipe linked to:
Kitchen Tip Tuesday at Tammy's Recipes
Tasty Tuesday at Forever Wherever
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace
Talk about Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer



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# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, March 24, 2009 8 Comments

Monday, March 23, 2009

 

Goodie Bag


I've been enjoying my time at the Ultimate Blog Party the past few days, but realized that the party goers here at Just Doing My Best need a goodie bag to take home to remember their time at this site.

I usually do not list freebies, but I wanted to try to give back to my readers. I've found a few freebies you can sign up for and hopefully you will remember the party and Just Doing My Best for the next few weeks as the goodies arrive at your home. Enjoy!

Dove Hair Therapy sample
Caress Evenly Gorgeous body wash sample
Cream of Wheat sample
Arm and Hammer Toothpaste sample
Miscellaneous samples from Walmart, options will change often

Lastly, these are not free, but coupons.com (you can get there from my sidebar) has high-dollar coupons, such as:
  • $2 off deodorant
  • $5 off children's games, such as Gator Golf, Elefun, Twister Hopscotch, Sorry Sliders
  • $10 off the Leapfrog Tag Reading system

Coupons are updated regularly, so check it out before they are gone.


I hope you enjoy your goodie bag! I'm offering a giveaway too, so scroll down to read about the Amazon gift card give-away and my Ultimate Blog Party party post.

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# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Monday, March 23, 2009 2 Comments

Sunday, March 22, 2009

 

What's More Important?

I'd like to introduce you to Malia at Homemaking 911. I've met her IRL (in real life) on numerous occasions and I can tell you that she is an anchor of calm and compassion. The personality that you hear when you read her articles is real and sincere. You can visit her and her many articles, ideas, and e-books at Homemaking911.com.


I Love You More

Last summer, our family was going through a difficult time. My oldest daughter (then 16) just had a very extensive knee surgery, far more difficult than we expected. Our son (2) was going through a lot of behavior changes and having difficulty sleeping, obeying, responding when called, and the like. My other children were just fine, but the weeks were very long and hard. My frustration with my son was growing with each passing day. I would wake up more exhausted when I went to bed because he kept getting up at night. He woke several times each night screaming, crying, fussing, wandering the house, or whatever a two year old mind can think of to do when all the lights are out and everyone else is trying trying to sleep. I am very consistent with the discipline of my children and I was searching and praying or answers, solutions and quick fixes. The Lord had something else in mind for me.

One night at 1:30 AM when he was up crying, rather than just sending him back to his bed, I went to his room and just rocked him and held him. As I looked in his sweet little face, I realized that I was putting my desire for a full night of sleep ahead of my precious son. I looked him in the face and told that little baby, “I will stay here and rock you all night if it helps you feel better. I love you more than I love a full night of sleep.” I rocked him for over an hour. As I sat and prayed about this child and my own selfish behavior, I was reminded of another home school family who just lost their own precious son (18) to cancer. I know his mother would gladly give up her nights of sleep for every night if she had the chance to hold her son again. I had to repent to my son and to the Lord.

The next day, when I called his name he ran the other way. Instead of being frustrated, I did the right thing. I got up and went to him and reminded him that when I call his name, he was to come to mommy right away. As I did it, I said in my mind, “I love you more than I love sitting in my chair,” and I prayed for the Lord to make it so. He did.

That week I was visiting at another mom’s house, he ran from me in the opposite direction, and headed around the house. I had to stop my conversation to go fetch and correct him, but the whole way, I could hear the Lord saying: “You love him more than what these other mom’s think, more than you love standing here and chatting, and more than having your dream of a perfectly well behaved child. ”

Throughout my days I have been examining my own heart and all the little annoyances have faded as I look at each one and remind myself that I love these four children more than I love the dream of perfectly behaved children who never interrupt adults, make messes, argue with siblings, or embarrass me from time to time. Praise God, I really do love them more.

I also realized I love the LORD more than I love a perfect house, a perfect car, all the laundry folded, the perfect hot meal on glass dishes on a table set with starched white linens. I can put those things aside temporarily to pursue my Savior in prayer and Bible reading. While all the normal tasks of homemaking must be done, and done to the best of my ability, I was sometimes forgetting that my loving Savior was there to walk me through it all, if only I took the time to seek Him.

I know some of you struggle with some of the daily tasks of motherhood and home schooling. I know children can be frustrating and tiring, but I pray that my struggle will help you look at your precious children and husband, and instead of comparing them to your ideal vision, the Lord will give you a heart to say….”I love you more than this.”

From her site: Malia Russell is the blessed wife to Duncan, thankful mother to four children, ages 3-18 and an author, conference speaker and director of www.homemaking911.com. Visit her site for inspiration, encouragement and practical help in your roles as a godly wife, mother, homemaker or home educator.

Copied and used with permission.

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# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Sunday, March 22, 2009 1 Comments

Saturday, March 21, 2009

 

Amazon Giftcard Giveaway!





It's time for the first Giveaway at Just Doing My Best! I had planned to wait until next Friday, but I decided to add an extra one. I guess it's the party atmosphere created by the Ultimate Blog Party and that I won a gift card yesterday, so I wanted spread some extra fun.


You can win one $15 gift card to Amazon.com


You will receive one entry for each of the following:



Comments will close at Noon (EST) on March 27 with the winner being chosen by a random number generator. Please be sure to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win.

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# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Saturday, March 21, 2009 26 Comments
 

I Won a Prize!

Ultimate Blog Party 2009


A huge THANK YOU to 5 Minutes for Mom for a generous Macy's giftcard that I won at the Sitewarming Party for the Ultimate Blog Party. I love shopping at Macy's and need to pick up a few Spring items so this is perfect!

If you have not checked out the Ultimate Blog Party yet, scroll down and read my post about it. When you follow the links in that post, you will find hundreds and hundreds of other blogger's links to their sites. This party is particularly great if you are looking for new blogs to read or blogs in a specific niche, not to mention the hundreds of giveaways.

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# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Saturday, March 21, 2009 4 Comments

Friday, March 20, 2009

 

Frugal Family Fun - A New Twist on Playgrounds

In celebration of the Ultimate Blog Party, this is the kick-off to my Frugal Family Fun series. You will see posts weekly, probably near the weekends, with ideas for enjoying your family without spending much, if any, of your family's hard-earned money.

My children and I had a fantastic evening at the town's playground a few nights ago. (Stay with me here, it gets better than just a plain ole playground.) They enjoyed it and we stayed about 20 minutes or so. When I asked if they were ready to leave, of course they shouted an emphatic "no," but when I told them we were going to another playground, their eyes lit up and they raced for the vehicle. That night, we covered 4 playgrounds (though some were attempts due to construction) all within 20 minutes of our home.

This completely free idea will be used again this summer when we venture into our closest city to find more playgrounds. We will pack a lunch and make a day of seeing how many playgrounds we can fit into a day. If you try this, don't forget about church and school playgrounds in addition to the city playgrounds.


If you liked this post, be sure to check out Just Doing My Best's homepage for more tips, goodies and a give-away.

This post has been linked to:

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# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Friday, March 20, 2009 14 Comments

Thursday, March 19, 2009

 

Ultimate Blog Party

Ultimate Blog Party 2009


Parties just went high tech! Actually, it is me who is new to the Ultimate Blog Party. (UBP) The party is hosted by the hardworking and generous ladies at 5 Minutes for Mom, who want to promote our blogs. How great is that!?

The party will last from March 20 - 27 and if it's anything like last year's party, it will involve over a thousand bloggers and hundreds of prizes. Visit 5 minutes for Mom to see who linked up and what they are doing on their site.


As any party goer, I want to briefly introduce myself. My name is Heather and I'm from the suburbs of one of the larger cities in Kentucky. I'm a wife and stay at home mom to the best boy and best girl in the world, at least in this mom's opinion. I enjoy cooking, saving money, having fun with the family, and tweaking the decor in my home. Those are some of the topics you will see here at Just Doing My Best.

Just Doing My Best is named with the understanding that all we have is our personal best. We cannot do any more than that, but we can keep learning and trying. The purpose of this blog is to give you ideas and inspiration to do your best in your own home, whether you work at home, outside the home, or not for pay at all and regardless of whether or not you have children.

I hope this site will help make your job at home easier and I'm looking forward to learning from you as well. I already have some fabulous readers who have taught me so much but there is always room for more ideas. If this sounds good to you, I hope you will consider subscribing to my feed (upper right corner) or checking back often.

On to the party....

Here at Just Doing My Best, the week of March 20-27 will include:

**Update** Extra giveaway added! Go to Just Doing My Best's homepage and scroll down for details on how you can win an Amazon.com gift card!


This will be an exciting time! A party isn't a party unless you meet new people and have fun, so take a look around and check out the sidebar for past posts to get an idea of what this site is about. Feel free to leave me a comment and when you are finished, be sure to check out the other bloggers. Have fun!

**************************************************************

I finally finished wading through the massive list of prizes and these are my top three picks:

and if those are taken, these look fantastic too:

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# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Thursday, March 19, 2009 24 Comments

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