Quotes Worth Pausing For

"The object of our faith is more important than the sincerity of our belief. The man who thinks he is right but is not sure may be far better off then the one who is "sure" but is absolutely wrong."

"The more we know of the Bible, the more faith we have, and the more correctly we know the Bible, the more effective our faith."

"A woman once heard someone compliment her great faith. "I have not great faith," she responded, "I have a little faith in a great God.""

"Christian theology evolves out of an experience that is based on God's Word, and that is successfully reinforced by its correspondence to the realities of this world."

Pumpkin Smoothie

 

The first day of Fall was yesterday!! I'm so excited to break out the scarves and sweaters and Pioneer Woman came through for me with a delicious pumpkiny goodness treat to try! It tastes like a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte minus the latte! It is super yummy and the crushed cinnamon cracker topping is a must! If you like pumpkin or smoothies, or both then you need to go try this right now.

Here's the recipe (taken straight from Pioneer Woman's blog):

PUMPKIN SMOOTHIE

1 Can Pumpkin Pie Filling
3 Cups Whole Milk (I did 1 1/2 C. Milk & 1 1/2 C. of Half & Half)
1/2 C. Vanilla Yogurt
Few Dashes of Cinnamon
Cinnamon Graham Crackers (crushed)

Ahead of time place pumpkin pie filling into a freezer safe container and place in the freezer for a few hours or until frozen solid. When it's frozen combine first four ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour the smoothie into pretty glasses and top them off with some crumbled crackers.

Makes: About 8 Servings


Note: If you are like me and make your pumpkin pies with the Libby's 100% Pure Pumpkin just add the sugar and spices to the pumpkin puree and you are good to go. DO NOT add the milk or eggs.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

So I am addicted to two particular food blogs and I'm sure if you read this blog enough you already know who they are: Pioneer Woman and Two Peas and Their Pod.

 

Well Two Peas and Their Pod posted this amazingly delicious recipe awhile back and when I saw it I knew it would make a great after school treat! So I rounded up my cooking posse (my kids) and we dove right in!

 

 

It's basically chocolate chip cookie dough, then melted caramel and cream poured on top with the other half of the cookie dough on top of the caramel sauce. You sprinkle salt on top of the caramel if you prefer the salted caramel taste.

 

Look what sinfulness it turns into!!

 

And it is SO simple!

Here is the link so you can make it for your kids too. Or just you and your husband. Or just you - but it may require hiding.

Gobza - the latest and GREATEST coupon deals EVER!!

OK, have you heard of...

 

?????

 

If you are a coupon junkie you will not want to miss this one!! Seriously! This is a brand new company that just launched and is similar to Groupon and such but ALSO allows you to make money back (on top of the incredible coupon deals)!! My husband and I signed up and I really am impressed with the deals!

 

Here are some examples of offers that are on Gobza right now:

1. $20 off a $40 purchase at Ray's Grill. Buy this coupon for $2. You just saved $18!!

2. For a $10 coupon you can get $125 dollars off eyelash extensions worth $200!

3. You can get a buy one get one free haircut for a $1.25 coupon.

4. Buy a $30 coupon to get $500 off a new A/C System!! Yes $500!!

 

I mean seriously cool! Anyways if you want to check out more just click here for a quick video. If you want to know ALL about Gobza watch this video, a little longer but SO helpful! 

 

And then if you are just as sold as I am on these great deals (not to mention the extra money back in my pocket when my friends use Gobza) then just follow this link to sign up yourself:

 

My GobzaLink™: www.gobza.com/Ivy

 

It's your personal invitation from me to you - so you can't say you didn't know!!



COUSCOUS - it is on a need to know basis!

 

Here is for everyone out there looking for something new to try! It is called COUSCOUS!!

My mom would make this all the time when I was a kid and it was one of my absolute favorite things in the world! So naturally I make it for my babies and this is one of those that gets a jumping up and down yelling YAY!! kind of reaction out of them. I am not exaggerating as I know I often do - but not this time. I am for reals! They love this stuff. And I am SHOCKED at the volume of people that have never heard of it! So I decided we must change that. The Near East brand is the kind I prefer and I only like the Original.

 

 

Add lots of butter and some salt and it is perfection! It cooks just like rice, very simple easy and quick and tastes similar to a rice. It's delicious, you will not regret it.

Silent Sunday

 

See this gun? I shot it.

 

It's a Savage 110BA .338 Lapua Mag. This gun holds the record for the longest confirmed kill at 2200 yards. I shot the target at 500 yards away.

 

It was awesome.

Easy to Make Kid Chore Charts

 

I must first of all give credit where credit is due and also brag on my sister-in-law who is the amazingly talented person behind my babies beautiful and fun chore charts!

She found the instructions for this chore chart off a blog, which no, she couldn't remember or I would have a link for you! However it is pretty basic - just takes some time and your own spin of creativity.

 

It starts with a simple wood board, which I believe you can find at Hobby Lobby. You then pick whatever scrapbook paper you want to be the design of your board. You need 2 12x12 to fit the width. Line the papers up to match exactly at the edges and then cut to fit 2/3 of the top of the board and glue down. Next have a solid colored paper that pairs well with your design paper and do the same to cover the bottom 1/3. Next paint a small piece of trim, any kind, any width you prefer and then using wood glue and clamps, glue the strip down the line of the connecting papers. Once dry, measure equal widths apart for your screw holes to go and at each point screw in a small hook. You may need to drill a smaller hole to start your screw, however the board is not thick so make sure you have control of the drill because you do not want to go all the way through!!

 

The last part is to go to your local hardware store and pick up 8 paint chips (those little cards that show you the color of the paint) again in a coordinating shade and when you get home find the cutest pictures on the Internet you can find and type the chore name above the picture, print out and glue onto your paint chips. Punch a hole in the top of the paint chip and hang on the small hooks. Oh and if you are so talented like my sister-in-law you can free hand the child's name (or buy scrapbook letters if it would avoid a panic attack at this point) and you can even add some stickers for embellishment (the 3-D raised ones look best I think - you know the ones with the foam sticker back).

 

I went a step further and attached pretty matching ribbon to the back to hang them up with! (Sorry that part isn't pictured here) 

 

You start the day with the chores showing and as they complete each chore the child flips it over to reveal their theme scrapbook paper (which I realized I forgot to mention that step...glue the same decorative scrapbook paper that is on the top of your board onto the back of the paint chips.) Okay NOW flip them over! Isn't that pretty?! The 2nd picture shows a completed chore chart and the 1st and last photos are how they look at the beginning of a new day.

 

You may even include weekend chores or every other day chores because the beauty is whatever chips are turned over your child knows they must do that day! They are fabulous and my kids think it's fun to turn their cards over, it gives them that sense of accomplishment.