The Baking Bug is Biting....

For some reason, I am going through a massive urge to bake lately. Perhaps it's due to necessity, since I'm forcing myself to make more of our snacks at home to cut down on all the processed foods that we eat around here. Maybe, an old flame who's coals have long been banked is just finally being rekindled (I did originally start going to college to train to be a pastry chef- but my plans just changed over time).

Whatever the reason, the baking bug always seems to bite me at ~12:30-1:00 in the morning...every morning. Seriously! My family comes out most mornings interested to see what yummy goodie the 'baking elves' (not to be confused with those sell-out Keebler guys) has left on our kitchen counter. Let me entice you with what's been smellin' up my kitchen lately....

The first thing I whipped up was homemade granola bars. My kids are constantly bargaining for a 'nack' and man, do we go through pop-tarts, fruit snacks, granola bars, and the like! Even with coupons I can still spend my weight in 'nack food' for their hungry 'lil tummies, so I knew there had to be a better way. A quick trip to Google (and help from StacyMakesCents.com) and I found out I was right! A healthier, CHEAPER version was close at hand with ingredients I already had in my pantry- who knew?!

Looks like birdseed but tastes sooooo much better!

I got aggravated after I had already creamed together the butter and brown sugar when I realized I didn't have old-fashioned oats on hand- only quick oats. No matter- in recipes where you are baking things like this, just sub one for the other! Crisis averted! I decided to double the recipe but for some reason didn't change the size pan I used to bake it (i.e. 8x8 vs. 9x13) so I wound up with really thick chunky bars instead of thinner more numerous bars. Regardless, I still had plenty with which to fill my large tupperware container!

Overall, I think they turned out fairly tasty but I would do some things differently next time. I'd use a bigger pan (duh!) and I'd probably toast the oats- it would bring out a yummy nuttiness that I feel is lacking greatly. But Tim and the kids loved 'em and the tupperware is esssentially empty, so I guess they couldn't have been too bad!

Next, I decided to dabble with fruit as I have a bunch of frozen blackberries that I wanted to use up- enter Blackberry Oatmeal Breakfast Bars (courtesy of FriendsFoodFamily.com). Talk about melt in your mouth scrumptiousness!! How can you go wrong with oats, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon topped with a blackberry sugar reduction and then more brown sugar streusel? HEA-VEN!!!!!

YUM-O!

There's nothing I would do differently next time other than make sure I have more blackberries on hand so that I can totally double or triple this recipe. It makes a gracious 32 bars (or 16 if you want them to be bigger like I did) and if you put the computer down right now and go in your kitchen to make these I swear you won't be sorry. Just promise you'll come back and finish reading my post when you're done.

I always make a dessert each week that we're allowed to indulge in over the weekend and this past week I tried my hand at Italian Cream Cake. I was inspired by my favorite dessert from our local Italian joint, Marabella, where their Cream Cake is DEE-VINE! I found a recipe on Ree Drummond's site, followed the instructions on Sweetapolita's site instead, and made the executive decision to make them into cupcakes so they would be 'portion-controlled' (after all, we are trying to watch what we eat!)

I'm not entirely sure I love how they turned out. I think they had entirely too much butter in them and I never thought I would ever hear myself say anything could ever have too much butter- but these were just a bit too heavy on the saturated fat end. I'm going to have to play around with the recipe some, because I will definitely make them again, but it will need some tweaking to suit my taste. However, I do think it's worth you attempting these if you love vanilla, coconut, and cream cheese.... and butter.... lots and lots of butter.

When it came time to feed my sourdough starter for the week, I knew I wanted to use the amount I poured off for something special but I wasn't sure what. (I've made all sorts of things with my starter but have yet to actually try my hand at sourdough bread- I'm not sure what exactly I'm afraid of....) In any event, I stumbled across a recipe for Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls (at WhatsCookingAmerica.net) and thought 'How could I not?!' I followed the recipe to a 'T' but I still had major issues. I ended up with a supremely sticky dough, but this was partly (ok...mostly) my fault because I didn't watch it while the bread machine did its thing (and due to the fact that I have a really watery starter compared to some). Also, I don't think the recipe called for enough filling- there was a big discrepancy in the bread to filling ratio. And even though I tried to be diligent, greased my pans and everything, I still wound up with burned bottoms! However, I did get an amazing rise from these babies and they had a distinctively delicious taste that can't be found just anywhere and most certainly not in a Pillsbury can!

Nice Buns!

Lastly, thanks to some leftover baked sweet potatoes from dinner the other night, I decided to try my hand at sweet potato biscuits (from HomeCookingMemories.com). Now, something you need to know: my whole life growing up my mom has been known as the queen of biscuits (at least in my head she has). She makes the fluffiest, most amazing biscuits (homemade, mind you) that puts even those at Cracker Barrel to shame. For reals! So, I knew going into this that mine weren't going to even come anywhere close- but I decided to try it anyway (I had to do something with those sweet potatoes after all!)

I followed the recipe perfectly but for some reason they came out dense as all get-out, I just didn't understand it. Finally, I put 2 and 2 together. I had subbed in some of my AP flour with bread flour- rookie mistake! (Guess I should have stayed in culinary school after all, eh?) Apparently, bread flour is good for things like...you know...baking bread. But when you're looking for tender, flaky, and light...well, bread flour ain't where it's at- AP is what you need. Oops.

Either way, they have wonderful flavor-very reminiscent of fall. I'll let you in on a little secret though- these are meant to be made with leftover sweet potato casserole from Thanksgiving (which will naturally be all buttered, and sugared, and flavored up). I realized this right about the time I was cutting out the biscuits. Luckily, I had remembered to add in some brown sugar for added sweetness but failed to add any cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, etc. Needless to say, they were a bit lacking in the spice department.{Sigh} So, I'm already anticipating my mom's life-altering sweet potato casserole this Thanksgiving so I can make these again (without the bread flour this time!) and hope they turn out so very much better.

As I was waiting for the first batch to bake, I had just a few left and the final few scraps to make a teeny, tiny biscuit. I decided to shape it for Tara (our teeny, tiniest family member whom we call Sissy) and created a cute little 'Sis'cuit! With time to kill, I used a small paring knife to carve a heart and her initial into her 'siscuit'. Not wanting the other kids to feel left out, I carved their initials into biscuits too! Everyone was so excited to eat their own personal biscuit at breakfast this morning and each felt special in his/her own way. And nothing makes you feel any better than a sweet little voice saying, 'Thank you for the biscuit, Mommy'. So, if you ever need a way to feel like an awesome mom in a minimal amount of time- grab a paring knife- it's a breeze!

Hope y'all enjoyed my forays into baking this week and found yourselves at least slightly inspired (if in no other way than to not make my mistakes!) :D

Til next time... may the fork be with you!

Cuts Both Ways...

Have you ever had one of those soul-piercing moments as a parent where you are presented with an image so terrifying that you are stuck- mouth agape- frozen in shock and awe, as your mind scrambles to make sense of what it just witnessed? This was exactly my predicament last Thursday night as my irrepressible three-year-old daughter tripped into our living room to tattle on her older brother (or some such tripe and I knew immediately that something 'just wasn't right'. As she turned to leave, I noticed that some of her hair seemed to be falling out- it was dangling off of her shoulder and was just barely clinging to the rest of the hairs on her head.

My baby with her long, beautiful hair! Look, Ma! NO BANGS!

I literally froze thinking 'Dear Jesus!', because my mom has been battling cancer for the better part of the last 2 years- so I know all about hair loss. My mind was struggling to process the question (no matter how morbid): 'Could she have gotten cancer and be losing her hair all in the past 2 hours?!?'  Once the folly of that line of thinking was discarded, I immediately began running through ideas of radiation poisoning: 'Dear God, what in our house is causing my baby to lose her hair?' And then... THEN... she turned to face me. And I realized she had.... BANGS!! My daughter hasn't had bangs in over a year- I have PROOF! And they weren't just any bangs- they were right at her scalp!! As I looked closer, I realized not only did she have bangs, she was missing over half her hair. No joke! That insane child had been in her room, with a pair of SAFETY SCISSORS, just hacking off her hair! It was truly one of those parenting moments where your heart takes a picture and you don't know whether to laugh, cry, or scream.

All the hair she cut off- literally! Looks like a bad wig, huh?

As I got upset (inevitably!), her brother (alerted to my frenzy by all the yelling) brought me a small box from her room where she was apparently keeping all the evidence of her crime. It was at that point that I learned the magnitude of the situation. I don't know if she was trying to thwart Mommy CSI or what, but it didn't work! By the time I brushed all the loose hair out of her head, she looked like a street urchin from 1800's London! 'Please sir, may I have some more?'

I knew I had no choice but to take her the next day for a haircut to try and fix what she messed up. Her brother had to go along too, because she wasn't content just to slice and dice herself, she gave him a chop job too! I knew we were going to have to give her a massively short haircut- and this child has had long hair for as long as she can remember- so I didn't know how I was going to pull it off. I stayed up late researching hairstyles for little girls with fine hair who have to have ridiculously short haircuts- hoping to find something that she wouldn't totally balk at.

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow

Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow

It was at this point that divine Mommy inspiration hit- I decided to channel her inner Princess! Our family all LOVES to watch Once Upon a Time and Ms. Priss is a big fan of Snow. When Snow is portrayed as Mary Margaret, she has this adorable pixie cut that I thought would be great with Tara's hair type and face shape. I downloaded every picture I could find- didn't breathe a word of my plan to anyone- and traipsed off to Fantastic Sam's the next day.

We got lucky enough to get a phenomenal stylist, Tracy, who worked really well with Tara and made her very comfortable about the cut. As we were going through, we found areas where Ms. Priss sheared the hair literally down to the very scalp- crazy kid! After we were done, Tara was still quite apprehensive until I showed her the pictures of Snow and told her that we cut her hair so she looked just like 'Snow White'. After that, it was like there was never a problem! Grab a toy- good to go!

AFTER! Suits her so well! Cute, fresh, and spunky- just like my own little princess!

I have to say, I was worried that even I wasn't going to like it- but I LOVE IT!! Her daddy, who was going to be my hardest sell, actually likes it! It suits her spunky personality- and she even told me she doesn't want to grow it back it out! Every time I brush her hair, she asks if I'm making her look like 'Snow White'. I can't help but smile and feel relief that I don't have to wait for years to look back on this and laugh... I can do that now- all thanks to a princess.

Our First Stab at UWG...

So, you know how any time you do something for the very first time (unless it's something supremely easy), by the time you're done you have created a laundry list of ways you'll do it differently (and waaaaaay better) when (IF!) you ever do it again? Well, that's sorta what happened to us when we took our first crack at attending UWG.

For those who didn't read my brief post on our 'Countdown to Kalahari', you probably have no idea what I'm talking about and the acronym UWG could means so many things to you: Unofficial Women Gunslingers, Unruly Wacky Gradeschoolers, Unripe Watermelon Gatherers... you get the picture. But just to allay any gunslinging, watermelon gathering concerns let me give you a quick 411 on what UWG actually is.

UWG stands for the Unschoolers Waterpark Gathering (for those not in the know, unschooling is a form of homeschooling). It is an event held annually, in Sandusky, Ohio at the beautiful Kalahari Resort which boasts the world's largest indoor waterpark (righteous!) among many other wonderful amenities. This year was their 6th year hosting, but our first year attending. They have speakers come from all over the country (people who actually unschool/homeschool and thusly have mucho experience in this arena) to guide you in the ways of 'non-State mandated education'. Multiple seminars are available each day for parents, 'funshops' are available at the same time for the kids (idle hands, you know?), there are family activities planned each night (not mandatory), and then you have free reign of the resort the rest of the time (totally included in your stay at no extra charge!) We get a hugely reduced rate because we attended in the thousands (!), so it's definitely a vacation that delivers on the cheap. But I do have to admit, it was one that was fraught with... shall we say... difficulties... and by the time I got home I had a list a mile long of things we'll do differently if we do it again (well, not really a mile... but you get the gist). Bear with me, there's good stuff at the bottom! So, without further ado....

#1- DON'T make the trip in one day. I'm not really sure exactly what I was thinking (or even if I was thinking). We live in Eastern NC- the resort is in Sandusky, OH- according to Mapquest it's only 10-12 hrs. 'Psssht!' I say 'We can do that in one day easy!' Oh. My. God. I could NOT have been more wrong! I guess I forgot that we have 4 kids (plus the 2 of us) which equals 6 bladders that constantly need attention. I also forgot that I have a 13-year-old and 11-year-old with metabolisms like Hoover vacuums that have to be fed regularly or all hell breaks loose. Add to that the cargo area in our car is a joke and we have a cramped space, for a loooooooong trip, with 4 irritable kids. Not exactly a match made in heaven.

I'm pretty sure a more beautiful sight has never been seen!

#1A- DON'T leave at 4 a.m. (or any a.m. before 9 for that matter!) It just isn't worth it folks! It didn't get us there any faster, we were so tired from lack of sleep which made driving treacherous in those mountain passes, and we STILL didn't roll into Kalahari until close to midnight. Ugh! It was awful! If it weren't for the time suck in Virginia (yep, I said time suck- we lost 7 hours going and 3 hours coming back- true story!) we probably would have made better time. I'm convinced if you look at old maps of the USA you'll find some black hole type swirly vortex mark right over where the state of Virginia should be- it's obviously where time (and matchless socks) go to die.

DO OVER- Next time, we will break the trip up into a 2 day segment. There were a lot of cool places we passed on our way up (and back) that we thought would be interesting to stop and see. Most notably would be the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (I'm up for anything that includes Aerosmith!) but I'd also dig hanging out for a day in Charleston, WV- it was a beautiful area and I'd like to get to know it better. We're even thinking of extending the return trip home and taking the kids to see Niagara Falls next time!  By breaking the trip up into 2 days, we don't have to leave quite as early and we can take a more leisurely pace (that'll make EVERYONE happy). Plus, it adds a bit more to the vacation- I'm constantly telling my kids it's not always the destination that's important... sometimes half the trip is in the getting there.

#2- DON'T room with another family (unless you already know them and are comfortable with them). Please don't get me wrong- we roomed with a lovely family from PA and although the other mom and I hit off off beautifully through email for the several months leading up to UWG... it's just a little weird to suddenly have 5 people you've never met and don't know from Adam sharing a hotel suite with you. Their kids were a bit older than ours and had VASTLY different interests than ours. We got along swimmingly with the parents for the most part, but had completely different views on how to interact with and raise kids and sometimes it got a bit hairy in there. Where we thought we were going to spend all this time together, having this awesome kind of bonding type week, we spent more time circling one another and staying irritated. So it wasn't as positive as I would have liked.

DO OVER- Next time, I will pay a bit more attention to the room offerings and we will just stay on our own. We realized, after getting there, that we could have had the king/kitchen room and one of the 2 queen attached rooms (with the adjoining door) for basically the same price we were paying to split the 3 bedroom suite with the other family. It would have plenty of space for us, we could have been as rowdy and obnoxious and we wanted to be, and it wouldn't have bothered anybody except... well...us!

#3- DON'T go into this thinking that because you'll have a kitchen you'll cook all your meals there. Just because you do it at home DOES NOT mean you'll do it at UWG! They have things booked from 7 a.m. to midnight and if you're not partaking in that then you are downstairs in the waterpark, the arcade, the mini golf, or doing something else. If you try to cook everything there, all you will do is spend a lot of useless time in the kitchen and be miserable because you're missing out on a lot of fun.

DO OVER- I will make SO much ahead and freeze it all: turkey burgers, spaghetti sauce, meatloaf, stuffed pasta shells, the works. Then, all you have to do is thaw and warm to make dinner (or breakfast or lunch). Easy, peasy, lemon-squeezy! And so much less headache involved- plus dinner gets on the table each night WAY before 10 p.m. (always a plus). Also, don't be afraid to try out some of the food in the hotel. If you choose wisely it's not that expensive and it's incredibly tasty.

#4- DON'T hit the waterpark 400 times- it's exhausting! It's a trek just to get down there (our room was in the back forty) and then the waterpark itself is MASSIVE (173,00 sq, ft.!)

DO OVER- Make a day of it- for real. And then make smaller trips down there if you feel the need to go back. And for goodness sake's rent a cabana! I'm not sure how much they are, but they can't be too terrible and I know my kids would have really enjoyed having a place to warm up, watch a little tv, have a light snack, and relax before jumping back into the water. We are definitely doing that if we go back. Also, it can't hurt to ask them to put my room closer to the waterpark so the walk there isn't like trekking in from the actual Kalahari.

#5- DON'T skip out on seminars and activities. We were so wasted after our drive that it took several days to get back to rights. During that time, we missed out on several seminars and activities we wanted to attend because we were sleeping (or irritable from lack of sleep). Add to that we were a bit nervous because we didn't know anyone and it tended to turn us into isolationists.

DO OVER- Hopefully by making a 2 day trip instead of 1, we won't be so tired, so skipping things won't be an issue. It also helps to have kids who are more adventurous and willing to go to family dances with their mom instead of responding, "Uh-uh! Not me!" I also think we'll be a bit more comfortable the next time around because we know what to expect- so the fear of the unknown will no longer be a deciding factor.

So, there's my list of what to fix next time. After reading it, you might think we had an awful time- right? WRONG! We had a GREAT time!! It was so much fun and could have only been enhanced by the list above. There's something to be said for being surrounded by thousands of people who do what you do every single day and understand you like no one else can.

We attended some amazing seminars like one on 'Right Brained Learning' given by Cindy Gaddis which was especially helpful for me as my 13-year-old is ridiculously right brained. I'm also quite right-brained in life but very left-brained in my approach to learning and teaching, so Cindy's talk really helped me to understand how to better approach D and help him grasp concepts better and stay on task more efficiently. My favorite seminar was given by Erika Davis-Pitre and was titled 'Unschooling Your Teens'. Erika is AWESOME! She is so funny and really down to earth and gave us a lot to think about- especially as our kids have to be 'deschooled' (meaning they have to unlearn all the bad things 'State mandated education' taught them) before they can effectively be un/homeschooled.

Ro's sword from Kid's Marketplace

The kids got to be involved in some of the most fun things I've ever known to occur. Some of their funshops included making 'Following Eye Pictures' (you know, the ones where the eyes follow you no matter where you walk in the room? You can see my Mardi Gras inspired mask on the right) and indulging in a 'Nerf War' (you can imagine how much fun THAT was!). They even got to shop in a Kid's Marketplace which is where everything is made, grown, baked, etc. by the kids and then sold and/or bartered by said children. It's really fantastic watching them hone their entrepreneurial skills. Next year, D wants to take and sell some original artwork and Drew is working on an idea for something as well. We shall see....!

Me... tattin' up America's future!

D's Tat

We also had a great time at the opening night Carnival. The kids got to play all sorts of neat carnival games, there was an impromptu dance party, and I even got into the spirit by helping out at the temporary tattoo booth. Yep, I got my groove on by contributing to the delinquency of minors! By the end of the night, my 3-year-old daughter had a 'sleeve' and even I was sportin' some tats! (Hello Kitty to be precise- her choice- not mine)

Kalahari is a beautiful resort and themed out completely in all it's African elegance; it's neat to see all the little touches here and there from the carpet to the artwork. They really put a lot of time and effort into this place and it shows. We did eat in one restaurant in the lobby and the food was wonderful. They boast a coffee bar and even have a candy/ice cream shop where we indulged completely!! (My mantra that week was calories eaten in Ohio don't count!)
 

Told you it was AMAZING!

The waterpark was tons of fun but was somewhat disappointing when the babies were sometimes too short to go on some of the rides, even if an adult was present. I understand safety is paramount, but Little Miss especially got bummed although she thoroughly enjoyed the Lazy River Ride! Keep in mind you definitely get a workout walking through that place! Tim and I (plus the kids) really had a lot of fun in the Wave Pool and the guys thoroughly enjoyed playing Water Basketball.

Drew- gettin' his bowl on!

I think more than anything, my favorite part of the whole resort was the arcade, because it wasn't just your average arcade. They had the requisite games and whatnot, but they also had a blacklight mini golf, an indoor bowling alley, and a paint-your-own-pottery place. We participated in all of it! It was AWESOME! We had a lot of fun with the games and won some really neat prizes- bowling was a hit and we knew we needed to do more of it here at home- and even pottery turned out to be something everyone enjoyed. Luckily for us, we have a local pottery place right up the road, so pretty soon we will be common faces around the there!

All in all, I have to say it was a pretty phenomenal first time. Sure, there were some hiccups- there are with just about any vacation, but overall it totally rocked. We came home tired, sore, and 5 lbs fatter (guess those calories did count after all?) but very pleased with ourselves for having attended.

CONCLUSION: Will most definitely attend next year!

Countdown to Kalahari!

I find it laughable, really, to be writing this post when the event we are 'counting down' towards is an event we have actually already been home from, for the better part of two weeks.

Seriously.

Yes folks, the ever inimitable 'Queen of Procrastination' strikes again. To be completely honest, I wasn't even going to write this post this late in the game but my ever encouraging mama told me it was a must because it was such a killer idea. (For the record, killer idea is my phrase- not hers).

Before we go any further, I have to give you a brief background breakdown here or none of this will make sense. (Heck, it might not even with the explanation- so...good luck with that). Anyway, most of you who know me know that I homeschool all four of my lovely, wonderful carpet lizards-I mean yard apes! Shoot! Stupid computer! I mean KIDS! My four wonderful, lovely KIDS! And because I'm trapped inside each day (oh God help me!) with four rambunctious young 'uns (somebody PLEASE!) who eat paint and sniff glue (and who KNOWS what they do in the bathroom?!?), I am always on the lookout for unique and exciting trips/vacations that we can take to go somewhere or see something new but still have it in the realm of educational (you know, so it 'counts').

We were lucky enough to have a friend (who also homeschools) recommend an annual convention- the Unschoolers' Waterpark Gathering- and we decided 'what the hey- let's do it'. And so, we did it! (My next post will be on the actual convention itself, so more deets will follow) Now, the coolest thing about this convention (other than spending a week with thousands of people who do exactly what you do every day) is that it's held at the  Kalahari Resorts and Convention Center, which just so happens to have the worlds largest indoor waterpark! YEAH! How could a kid (and a parent!) NOT get excited?! My kids were so psyched when Tim and I told them about it, that they immediately wanted to start counting down. Drew made a hand-drawn countdown calender, but Tara soon decimated that with her 'pitchers' so I knew I needed to come up with something inventive and 'Sissy-proof'. That's when this baby was born...

So, without further ado- I present to you the most awesomest of awesome event countdown calenders ever created (at least to my way of thinking)! drumroll please......

TA-DA!

Pretty cool, huh? I wanted to have something that was interactive for the kids, but easy to re-create (as we'll most likely be doing this trip again in the future). Each day, a kid (we rotated turns-had to keep it fair) took down a balloon and popped it- signifying another day gone and one more day closer to our trip.

I also needed to make sure that it was easy and relatively inexpensive to pull together- since it is a 'consumable' product. Here are the steps I took:

1. I downloaded a free African font (here)
2. Printed the title and numbers up on my computer
3. Laminated them with my trusty desktop laminator (as my kids are rough on EVERYTHING)
4. Lowe's was a quick stop for some black jute rope
5. The clothespins were found on my craft shelf
6. And the balloons were just easy-a black marker was the last thing I needed to create a jungle inspired countdown calender that had my kids excited every time they walked into the living room! (On a side note, Oriental Trading sells premade versions of these balloons here, but I'm just too dang cheap thrifty)

Pretty neat, huh? I've already thought of a million and one ways to use this idea- use natural jute or sisal, beachy colored balloons with sand dollars, and suddenly you have a Beach Trip countdown! If you're a mountain person, used darker balloons (browns, rusts, and greens) with tree branch silhouettes drawn on them and hang them from sticks found in your yard. You could even use red and green and make a Christmas advent calender (oooh! I love that one! I may have to steal it from myself) The ideas are endless- let your imagination run wild!!

So tell me dear readers, what do you think- could you do it? Is it worth a try? And if so, how would you use it and make it your own?

As a final aside, for all you readers up in arms thinking I harbor some crazy Silence of the Lamb feelings about my kids- you couldn't be more wrong. I like to pick and joke, but truth be told, I actually enjoy the time I spend with them each day and wouldn't trade it for anything. Although I'm still concerned about the amount of time each spends in the bathroom (I DON'T want to know!) overall, I happen to think my kids rule. 'Nuff said. 

Welcome to the World... Little Bloggie!

In true Jenn style, this blog has been a creative endeavor that has been over a year and a half in the making. Not that it's actually taken that long to learn how to use Blogger (it's not that hard!) or even that it was so difficult picking a background and a font (I'm sorta picky but not to that extent...ok... I will admit I spent an inordinate amount of time on font choices... but still!) Nope, it was just another case of me doing what I do best- dawdling... tarrying... dilly-dallying... oh to heck with it! PROCRASTINATING!!. Or, better put, letting the things I have to do getting in the way of the things I want to do. 

See, I dreamt up the idea of this little baby over a year ago during the holiday season of 2011. I had taken up several new pursuits during that year and I wanted to share them with with family and friends spread far and wide. I had neat new ideas for saving money, saving time, saving energy, saving sanity (!) etc and I thought I'd have it up and running in a matter of days... yeah.

I know the title of the blog can be a bit confusing, so let me take a minute to explain where it came from and how I got there. I decided to start this out of my desire to share my experiences with making most of my food from scratch and my attempts at couponing to save mucho dinero in the 'can't make it, so have to buy it department'. The idea blossomed from there- my family and I are trying to take a new approach to life- a more wholesome approach where we live a more fully realized life but do so by utilizing less 'stuff'. 

• LESS processed food helps us eat healthier. So, I can post about my successes (and oh so many screw-ups!) learning how to make homemade bread. Or my attempts at growing (and then canning) my own vegetables. Or my master recipe for sneaking veggies my kids hate into their spaghetti sauce so they think they're winning and really I am!! 
• LESS food also helps us live a MORE fabulous life as we'll be thinner! This ties in with the weight loss journey that my husband and I are currently undertaking and we hope we can use this blog as an inspiration to other people undergoing the same struggles we are with weight and self-image issues. The thinner we are, the healthier we will be and the MORE time we will have with our children to do MORE with them.
• My couponing secrets can come in handy as LESS money is spent in the grocery store to help you have MORE food in the house and MORE money in your bank account- everyone likes that!
• Now that we've taken on homeschooling, we're thriving with LESS influence from the government in an effort to give our children a MORE hands-on education in an environment with one-on-one contact and safety never being an issue. My training and experience as a teacher helps me have awesome curriculum ideas that I am so excited to share!
• And there's so much more but I'm running out of time to type!

As you can see, the premise is a sound one. You truly can live a fabuLESS life! You can squeeze every drop out of every single day and do it with less- you just have to know how!

So, determined to make 2013

The Year of the Jenn

one of my major New Year's resolutions is to actively utilize my blog- which means today is little bloggie's birthday!!. This blog will be a chance for me to stay in touch with all those I love who are spread all over this great world, give me an opportunity to meet new (awesome!) people who share the same interests my family and I do, and allow me the space to share all the stuff I think is cool, unique, and noteworthy- even if my own family might think it's silly! (I know someone out there will think it's cool too!)

I can't promise I'll always get it right. I can't promise you'll walk away from every post feeling like you learned something new or discovered something extraordinary. But I can promise that every post will be an experience- and even in my failures (which I won't hesitate to blog about in a most humorous way) you will find a success of some sort. As Bruce Lee says, “Don’t fear failure.  Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.” 

I hope somewhere along the way something I show you will inspire you to dream bigger, reach higher, and wish farther than you ever have before. Because it's only when we push ourselves beyond our limits that we are able to discover our true measure.

Until next time...