4 Sweet Sisters

Getting caught up in perfection can be haphazard to my health. Today the Little Chef found a tea set that I don't let the girls use very often. Not because there are Disney Princess' on it, but because it is breakable. Hmmmmm. Usually I feel as though we need to plan for a party. Make or at least have some sort of cookie in the pantry. Get tea and honey out etc. Well, not today and not because of my own doing! The Lord orchestrated this very simple but terribly fun time! This morning I saw a commercial amidst the news hour about a little girl having popcorn at her tea party. No fancy cakes, pastry or cookies. She was drinking fake tea. Yes, I know the commercial was an add for popcorn but I was allowed to see it at the right moment. To prepare me for my little ones plea... So when the Little Chef ran in excitedly asking for a tea party and her older sister suggested apple juice and crackers, was there any doubt I would say yes ? Actually, to be honest for a split second I thou...

Today is a double whammy. I wanted to show you how wonderfully yummy School Girl's bread turned and it's Works For Me Wednesday over at We Are That Family . My thought is: they learn to make it and I don't have too! Fresh ground whole wheat flour. As simple as flipping a switch! See how easy. Preparing the yeast. Milk makes for a tender crumb. Honey and Olive Oil A lot of flour. Mom's inspection. A little dough. Wah La! Beautiful girl and delicious bread. She made 2 loaves of sandwich bread, 1 loaf of cinnamon raisin and a batch of french boule. WFMW Aprons! I use camp dry spray to repel liquids and messes. Just spray it on a new or clean apron and hang outside to dry for a day or two. Helps keep aprons looking great much longer! So get some new cute aprons and keep your cute clothes drom getting ruined! Do you wear aprons and how often? julie

And the 4 Sweet Sisters poll says! Look over to you right and answer my little survey. Sometimes we SAHM can feel like we are the only people going through whatever it is at the time. I know that I can feel very isolated at times. Anyhow, I was interested in knowing what your daily routines are like. I'll share mine next week! The good, the bad, the ugly. Hopefully more good than the other two! The middle Chickadees and I are heading to the kitchen to make a batch of french boule bread and teach them how to make sandwich bread. Pictures to come! Farm Girl didn't have time to get to the heart wreath project. We'll update when that happens also. julie

Oooooooooooo. I'm so into decorating the house for Valentine's Day. I never do, so this has come as a big surprise to me! Here at 4 Sweet Sisters frugal is the game. There are a ton of neat craft ideas out there, but the ole budget just wouldn't budge. So thinking cap went on and I headed to some of my favorite craft blogs( Skip To My Lou and Little Birdie Secrets ). I usually do not dream up the wonderful ideas I post here, but I do tweak them to make them all mine. So total cost was $5.00 for glitter and swirly hearts. 1st up: A rag heart wreath. I accosted all my FB friends looking for wire hangers and I had left over fabric from past projects. Farm Girl plans on making one after to school. I'll post her results later. (Bribery can be good!) Next: Glitter! I'm in desperate need of a glitter fix and I can't get enough. It's the dieting. I've turned to glitter. Can you see the red glitter? It really glistens in the sunshine. Here's another wi...

Hope your weekend is going well. Quite damp and chilly here. A great day for crafting! I wanted to post this link to Brandy's blog: The Prudent Homemaker . Her pantry rates up there with our neighbors from years past. Excellent pantry and great tips on canning, urban gardening etc. Hop over and enjoy! I'll be back Monday with my craftiness! Have a beautiful weekend. julie

We officially ended our 2 weeks of eating out of our pantry. We did it with no problem at all. We could easily do a month, but I really don't want to deplete supplies I keep on hand. If we had gone a month I would have had to buy some milk and cheese. So that being said, we didn't spend any moola on food or other household supplies. We even had fresh produce (i thought i would have to buy) from our garden! Today's topic (if you haven't guessed) is Pantries . Do you have one? Do you want one? Why have one? I think we'll start with the why have it: Plan meals in advance or on the fly. When prices are high you can shop your pantry for deals you've already snagged. Eases your burden in a financial crisis or lean times. Prepared in case of short or long term emergency. This is a short list( it could be much longer). The reason why we keep our pantry? All of the above and I grew up seeing my Mom and Grandmother do it. It makes great sense for any budget conscious ...

Good Morning All! We had a wonderfully busy, four day weekend here. We started out our time together visiting a reenactment of Civil War life. We had a chance to here the cannons blow and the muskets crack. A little unnerving when your aren't prepared for it. All the Dads in our group were entranced. We learned about Morse code and the telegraph service. How to dress for day, evening and what type of hoop skirt was used for different activities. Everyone enjoyed some sarsaparilla, fried peas, parched corn and fry bread. The chickadees has lots of new ideas for ball gowns and bonnets. ( I think we will have a busy summer.) These were war refugees getting dressed for the day. The hairstyles were so intricate! Did you know that they made specific chairs for men and women? The hoops that women wore couldn't fit into chairs with arms. These chairs were also sold in pairs because married couples were the ones most likely to need them. After leaving the Raid we then headed to Bocia...

Before I show you my beautiful (boring) pictures of my Mini- Pantry I wanted to to share Frugal Failure #2. Yes, two in 1 week.....sigh......... stop by here to read one . Last Thursday night we took School Girl out for a special Dad and Mom dinner and a movie. I was so excited because I had a gift card for the restaurant she wanted to go to and the movie was only $4! Yep, I was pretty pleased with myself. We went to Chili's and ordered the 2 for $20 meal plus a meal for Superman. They proceeded to have a "who could eat the most salsa and not cry" contest while I basked in the glow of my frugal accomplishment. Dinner was yummy ( i walked that day). School Girl received her family ring that night and we enjoyed our desert; brownies, ice cream and chocolate. The waiter asked if we needed anything else and gave Superman the bill. I whipped open my gift card envelope, brought forth the golden card and handed it to my adoring Husband. He looks at the card then turned it ove...

We had the most wonderful day. The girls were asked to serve our Armed Forces by helping Operation Military Kids hand out dolls and picture dog tags to children of the parents and grandparents leaving on deployment. We heard the Governor of our state speak and shook hands and exchanged smiles with may of our military personnel . Everyone loved these dolls! There's a pocket were you put a picture of your loved one. A very special remembrance for our family of all those fine folks who are willing to serve our country. We pray for your safety and quick return. julie

Has anyone else had a Frugal Failure out there? Well, we sure did! Despite all my best efforts and preplanning I still went over budget for the holiday season. Hmmmmmmmm .( Truthfully, I think we do every year, but we take it out of short term savings and pretend it never happened. ) Well not this year! Nope. We are going to buckle down and eat from our Pantry. The one that I, the Chickadees and Superman have created this past year. I've been meaning to post about this project and have even started posts and then things have come up that needed more attention. Well now is the time! Aren't you excited? I'm always up for a challenge. I thrive on them (most of the time). My goal is to eat out of our pantry, freezer and grain storage for at least two weeks. I do have moo la for produce and milk. I think the hardest part will be skipping the BOGO's and seeing things get depleted ... I like this little safety net we've created, but I think we should see it in u...

I guess I should have looked up the definition of Cross Training before I started this post. Since that would be to laborious, I've decided to give you my definition. (See the stuff you read online may not always be accurate.) Reader Beware ! My definition is just this: Exercising 4 to 5 times per week using different muscle groups on opposing days. How am I going to accomplish this? Let me tell you... it has been a HUGE brain struggle! I've been warring with myself for a couple of months over this. My brain has finally won. I've decided to Nordic Walk 2 to 3 times a week and Swim 3 times a week. My body has become somewhat stagnant with just swimming and due to concerns over osteoporosis I needed to get in some bone building exercise. For Christmas I received a new pair of walking shoes and have really been trying hard to do my foot exercises each night. Urban Girl and I took our maiden walk on New Year's day (before I came down with the crud, again). It was great!...

I hope all is well with you and yours? We have had a bout of illness over the holidays and I think I'm getting ready for another round. A doctors visit may be in order. Tonsillitis or Strep Throat, I don't know... I've been trying to diagnose myself all day. We started back to school today. So hard after a wonderful break. Yes, even with feeling sick we still had a great time as a family. Everyone was home on vacation. We received a Wii for Christmas and have been having a lot of fun with it. I feel like I'm at the bowling alley! The weather has been quite chilly here. Our nighttime temps are in the low 30's with daytime just at about 50 degrees. We don't buy clothing for chilly weather (so I look a bite strange in funky layers) and uh, we even forgot (until last night) that maybe we should put the heat on! We've had fires every night and during the days of the weekend. Superman has been cooking over the fire and having a great time. I've been cookin...