I've had kind of a crazy life since I've been married. We got married August 14, 2004 (on my 21st birthday) - three months after I graduated. Although I was graduated I still had one more class left to take. During that fall I took that one last class and tried to get use to being a wife and cooking and cleaning and such while living in Toccoa Ga. That December I finished my class and we moved down to Valdosta. Clint was doing some programming work with a guy we knew and I was traveling to Moultrie to help at my dad's office a few days a week. During that time I was looking into being a house parent. We started working at the Florida Sheriff's Boys Ranch in June 2005. After that we worked at Girls and Boys Town in Tallahassee Florida starting in January 2006. We worked there for nine months then moved back to Moultrie. We both got jobs pretty quick - Clint at Futuristech and I at Green Oaks Center. I worked there in three different positions until December 2008 when I started at Professional Case Management Services of America (PCSA) where I was a Case manager for individuals at Green Oaks and other centers. When Olivia turned One I decided to make a changes so I could spend more time with her and not be as stressed. I helped start Lifespring Child Care Center in August 2010. I worked there part time and also at Beans and strings part time. That December I decided to work solely at the church doing the day care in the mornings and working at LASSO (after school program) in the afternoons with Clint. Due to some issues, I decided to quit working at the daycare in May and just worked at dad's office a few days a week helping enter information and scan files into their new paperless system. Starting January 2012, Clint would no longer be able to run LASSO due to him pursuing a job with Mclean Engeneering. I have worked with LASSO off and on since it started and didn't want to see it suddenly end, so I decided to take up the role of lead instructor for the spring 2012 semester even though I was going to have a baby in February.
So coming up to the present... We decided it was time for LASSO to come to an end and April 26 was the last day. I planned a party for LASSO that day. I love all the kids in the youth and at LASSO and will miss them very much. But one really cool thing about that day is Clint found out that he got a Software Engineering job at McLean Engineering earlier that day. Up until that point we were not sure if he would have a job for May and if he did, we were not sure if it would be part time or full time (He had been going back and forth all year). We were in a waiting period trying to figure out what we were going to do as far as job/money went. We felt like God wanted us to just wait and not make plans until the end of April when we found out something about job situations. So although it was sad to say good bye to our students, it was very fitting that the last day of LASSO was also the day Clint was offered a Software Engineer job - Turning a page and starting a new chapter of life.....
All that leaves me to say that this is the first time in my life I am not working a job and am a full-time Stay At Home Mom (SAHM). I've never really had any long-term plans as far as a job/career but I've always known that I wanted to be a mother and raise godly children. So I guess this is my full-time job for now.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Friday Fav: Homemade Play Dough
Olivia is having her 3rd birthday party tomorrow and the theme is Olivia the Pig. If you have never heard of Olivia the Pig you need to check it out. It is a TV show that comes on Nick Jr. Olivia the Pig's favorite color is RED. Anything she can have red, she does! We are going to try to have as much red as possible at Olivia's birthday party. So for the party favors at the birthday party I decided to make red play dough.
I went off the recipe on this blog, and this blog, and this video. Most of the recipes I found called for Cream of Tarter. I looked at Winn Dixie and Walmart and could not find it at either place! After watching the video and reading the blog I scrolled down to read all of the comments. Some people said that they replaced the Cream of Tarter with Lemon Juice and one person even said they added a little Vinegar to help slow bacteria growth. I used these two suggestions but there were also others suggestions such as using Kool-aid packets to color and different extracts to scent. I really wanted to add glitter but I couldn't find what I needed at Walmart.
These are the ingredients I ended up using:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups water
1 cup non-iodized salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 splash vinegar
1 splash vanilla extract
red food coloring
Put all of the ingredients into a medium or large sauce pan on the stove and used a whisk to mix them together. Turn the stove on medium heat and use a wooden spoon to stir constantly. After about 2 or 3 minutes the spoon will start to scrape some thickness up from the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring making sure you scrape the bottom on the pan each time.
Your mixture will get thicker and thicker. Just keep stirring. Eventually all of the liquid will turn to a thick goo. When this happens, take it off the stove and let cool for a couple of minute.
When the mixture cooled slightly scrapped it onto some plastic wrap onto the counter. While it is still hot, fold and need it a few times. This will help the texture become more like play dough. I then separated it out into nine small balls, but you can keep it in one large lump. You can also cut this recipe in half or wait until the end to add your color so you can have more variety in colors.
It was pretty easy and fun to make. I took the balls and put them in zip lock baggies so I can give them away as party favors at Olivia's party. Have fun with making this homemade play dough!
I went off the recipe on this blog, and this blog, and this video. Most of the recipes I found called for Cream of Tarter. I looked at Winn Dixie and Walmart and could not find it at either place! After watching the video and reading the blog I scrolled down to read all of the comments. Some people said that they replaced the Cream of Tarter with Lemon Juice and one person even said they added a little Vinegar to help slow bacteria growth. I used these two suggestions but there were also others suggestions such as using Kool-aid packets to color and different extracts to scent. I really wanted to add glitter but I couldn't find what I needed at Walmart.
These are the ingredients I ended up using:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups water
1 cup non-iodized salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 splash vinegar
1 splash vanilla extract
red food coloring
Put all of the ingredients into a medium or large sauce pan on the stove and used a whisk to mix them together. Turn the stove on medium heat and use a wooden spoon to stir constantly. After about 2 or 3 minutes the spoon will start to scrape some thickness up from the bottom of the pan. Keep stirring making sure you scrape the bottom on the pan each time.
(The color looks a little different because the flash was used on some of the pics)
Your mixture will get thicker and thicker. Just keep stirring. Eventually all of the liquid will turn to a thick goo. When this happens, take it off the stove and let cool for a couple of minute.
When the mixture cooled slightly scrapped it onto some plastic wrap onto the counter. While it is still hot, fold and need it a few times. This will help the texture become more like play dough. I then separated it out into nine small balls, but you can keep it in one large lump. You can also cut this recipe in half or wait until the end to add your color so you can have more variety in colors.
It was pretty easy and fun to make. I took the balls and put them in zip lock baggies so I can give them away as party favors at Olivia's party. Have fun with making this homemade play dough!
Friday, May 4, 2012
Friday Favorite: The Smoothie Life
Last week Clint found out that he got the full-time job he has been pursuing at McLean Engineering. We will be making more money now but we didn't want that money to just go to whatever. We decided to dedicate some extra money to our health. We started our YMCA membership back and all this week we have been making smoothies. Smoothies have been a trend in Moultrie for a few weeks now. Beans and Strings have fresh fruit smoothies and a green smoothie that has spinach in it. Also Carrie Viohl (my sister-in-law) has been making some crazy health smoothies and posting her creations on Facebook. So we decided to try eating healthy smoothies either with our meal or as a snack in an attempt to eat less during lunch and supper.
Here are the smoothies we have made so far...
1st smoothie
Normal fruit smoothie with papaya.
Ingredients: 1/2 of a papaya, about 15 strawberries, 1 banana, Ice, milk
Tasted like a normal strawberry/banana smoothie.
2 1/2 servings
----------------
2nd smoothie
Orange smoothie with papaya
Ingredients: 4 carrots, 1/2 of a papaya, strawberry yogurt, milk, ice
Tasted like carrots. I added a little orange juice afterwards and it tasted more like oranges. We will put orange juice instead of milk next time.
2 1/2 servings
------------------
3rd smoothie
Green smoothie carrots.
Ingredients: 2 carrots, 1 large handful of spinach, 1 kiwi, 1 banana, orange juice, ice
Too much of a carrot taste. I added more juice so it would taste more like oranges.
2 1/2 servings
---------------
4th smoothie
Orange smoothie with strawberries (Olivia's invention)
Ingredients: 1 carrot, 1 banana, about 10 strawberries, strawberry yogurt, milk, ice
Tasted a hint of strawberry
1 1/2 to 2 servings
------------------
5th smoothie
Super green smoothie with blueberries
1 Banana, 1 handful of spinach, 1 green apple, 1 kiwi, 1 handful of blueberries, apple juice, ice
Tasted like green apple. This one is a keeper.
2 1/2 servings
-----------------
6th smoothie
Peach smoothie
Ingredients: 3 peaches, 1 frozen banana, 1 handful of blueberries, vanilla yogurt, milk, ice
Tasted like peaches with specs of blueberries in it.
1 1/2 to 2 servings
---------------------
7th smoothie
Orange smoothie with mango
Ingredients: 2 carrots, 1 Mango, about 8 strawberries, vanilla yogurt, milk, ice
This one is my favorite so far! It had a beautiful color. I could really taste the mango and I didn't taste the carrots at all. Clint put a little extra yogurt than normal, that probably made it sweeter and pulled out the mango flavor.
2 1/2 servings
Another good thing about these smoothies is that Olivia loves them too! She doesn't eat many vegetables by themselves so this is a good way to get her some of those good nutrients as well.
Here are the smoothies we have made so far...
1st smoothie
Normal fruit smoothie with papaya.
Ingredients: 1/2 of a papaya, about 15 strawberries, 1 banana, Ice, milk
Tasted like a normal strawberry/banana smoothie.
2 1/2 servings
----------------
2nd smoothie
Orange smoothie with papaya
Ingredients: 4 carrots, 1/2 of a papaya, strawberry yogurt, milk, ice
Tasted like carrots. I added a little orange juice afterwards and it tasted more like oranges. We will put orange juice instead of milk next time.
2 1/2 servings
------------------
3rd smoothie
Green smoothie carrots.
Ingredients: 2 carrots, 1 large handful of spinach, 1 kiwi, 1 banana, orange juice, ice
Too much of a carrot taste. I added more juice so it would taste more like oranges.
2 1/2 servings
---------------
4th smoothie
Orange smoothie with strawberries (Olivia's invention)
Ingredients: 1 carrot, 1 banana, about 10 strawberries, strawberry yogurt, milk, ice
Tasted a hint of strawberry
1 1/2 to 2 servings
------------------
5th smoothie
Super green smoothie with blueberries
1 Banana, 1 handful of spinach, 1 green apple, 1 kiwi, 1 handful of blueberries, apple juice, ice
Tasted like green apple. This one is a keeper.
2 1/2 servings
-----------------
6th smoothie
Peach smoothie
Ingredients: 3 peaches, 1 frozen banana, 1 handful of blueberries, vanilla yogurt, milk, ice
Tasted like peaches with specs of blueberries in it.
1 1/2 to 2 servings
---------------------
7th smoothie
Orange smoothie with mango
Ingredients: 2 carrots, 1 Mango, about 8 strawberries, vanilla yogurt, milk, ice
This one is my favorite so far! It had a beautiful color. I could really taste the mango and I didn't taste the carrots at all. Clint put a little extra yogurt than normal, that probably made it sweeter and pulled out the mango flavor.
2 1/2 servings
Another good thing about these smoothies is that Olivia loves them too! She doesn't eat many vegetables by themselves so this is a good way to get her some of those good nutrients as well.
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