Sunday, March 29, 2009

Sunday Activities

Sunday is one of my favorite days for many reasons.

#1 I usually get a fabulous nap with my husband!
#2 We have Family Planning & Family Journaling


So what is Family Planning & Family Journaling you ask? Well we set aside about 20 minuets on Sunday afternoon (we have a.m. church right now) and go over the entire families schedule for the week. This includes Mom, Dad, and all the kids. This way we know who will be where and who needs to get picked up or dropped off etc. This is also extremely helpful when you have parents and kids in school at the same time! This has really saved our bacon a few times. We like to do this activity after church so that we can get the announcements from church to make sure that we have all the church activities listed. You can have a big calendar posted in a place that everyone goes (like the kitchen or family room) where all of the scheduling is listed. Then as things come up during the week that change you can note them on the calender.
This can be adapted for little kids as well. For instance, I have a 3 year-old who has ballet school on Mondays. You can place a sticker on that day so she will know what day her school is. This can really be a fun family project and it keeps the whole family informed.

The last part of the 20 minuets is Family Journaling, where we write down what happened during the week, and funny things the kids said. Right now I write all of these things down in a separate calender so that I can use it later for scrap booking, and writing in my kids journals. But for older children this can be their time to write in their own journals. I love having this calender because I can easily recall when I took at picture. I usually circle the date that I took a picture and write a cute note of why I took the picture. It is also a great way to document extended family vacations. ( I know this seems OCD but each night before I go to bed I try to write a little something about what happened during the day in that calendar so I don't forget it)

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

What We Had For Dinner Tonight

I was in the mood to try something new with chicken breasts so I looked through some of my recipes and found this one. It was soooo good! Even my kids liked it!
Next time I will not use chicken breasts, but will use chicken pieces as I think it will turn out more tender, but it was still soooo super good! The recipe calls for chopped ginger or crystallized ginger, I did not have any so I just added my powdered ginger and it worked just as well.
Here is the recipe:
Ginger Orange Chicken
3 to 4 pounds chicken parts
salt and pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground ginger or 1 tablespoon finely chopped crystallized ginger
dash hot pepper sauce
1 orange, unpeeled, sliced
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a skillet; brown chicken. Drain off excess oil. Combine barbecue sauce and flour; stirring until smooth. Add orange juice, brown sugar, ginger, and pepper sauce. Pour over the chicken. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add orange slices and simmer, uncovered, 10 to 15 minutes longer or until chicken is tender. Arrange chicken with orange slices on a serving platter; serve with hot boiled rice and a green vegetable. Pass the extra sauce.Ginger Orange Chicken serves 4.
Happy Eating!!!!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Quilt Show at the Gilbert Historical Museum

I love to go to the Quilt Show at the Gilbert Historical Museum. It is so fun to see what the ladies in my community are making!
Yo-Yo Quilt. I don't know if I will ever have the patience to make this quilt but I really think they are super cool.
I Spy quilt. I want to make on of these for a sick day quilt. You place different blocks that have fun things to find in them for the little kiddos!

A variation of a rag quilt. I think I might try this one.
Fun Halloween Hanging Quilts

Sun Bonnet Sue quilt. I have a book with a pattern for this quilt and hopefully some day before I die I will get one made!
I love this vintage fabric. It is soo cute!
I took this picture for my mother-in-law. She has a jungle themed room in her home and I thought she might like this one.
I love the embroidery on this one! I could make this one easy!
I thought this was a cute way to honor the armed service men and women!
The jazz quilt. I have never seen anything like this before. It was more amoeba shape than quilt shape but it was so cool!

Mini hexagon quilt. This made my fingers hurt just looking at it!! Stay tuned for more pics from the museum in a later post!