Boudreaux's Butt Paste Product Review and Giveaway

The very nice Boudreaux company sent all these products for us to try.

We have used the original Butt Paste in the past and

it cleared up my diaper rash really quick.

We like the mild scent too.

Boudreauxs sent us

1- Boudreaux's Butt Paste

1- All Natural Boudreaux's Butt Paste

1- ALL NEW Maximum Strength Boudreaux's Butt Paste

1- Boudreaux's Baby Kisses Lip Balm

1- Boudreaux's Body Wash & Shampoo

1- Boudreaux's Rash Protector

Elizabeth says she hopes you will enter, this is good stuff!

One winner will get this same package of 6 full size products.

There are 3 ways to enter.

1 - just leave us a comment on my blog

2 - "like" Boudreaux's on Facebook

3 - follow the Boudreaux's blog

let me know in the comments which of these you do so I know how many entries you have.

and if you don't have a blog, leave me your email so I will be able to contact you if you win.

this is how clean Elizabeth was after her first bath in Boudreaux's Body Wash & Shampoo. It rinses off easy, has a very pleasant and light scent and is no-tear.

The Baby Kisses is for those red cheeks that babies get in cold weather. Although it has been so hot for so long in Oklahoma, and cold weather is hard to imagine, Elizabeth's face did get very red last winter and now we have a product that will help, if and when winter ever comes again.

Elizabeth will pick the winner at noon on Friday August 5th.

We hope you will enter and that you will look at Boudreaux's pages if you want to know more.

No Cost Chest Freezer Organization

We have a medium size chest freezer. Chest freezers cost less to buy and power than upright freezers but they do take some tricks to organize.

Most of the meat we have is bought in bulk and then I repackage it, so they are usually irregular sized and don't stack well.

Finding anything in this freezer was really taking effort.

Then, I spotted these fabric shopping bags that my daughter gave me, she hosted a Velveeta House Party and had extra bags.

I got 3 of the bags and sorted the meat - beef into one, pork into the 2nd one and chicken into the 3rd one.

I put them into the bottom of the freezer and all 3 fit perfectly!

Does anyone else have an abundance of these shopping bags? We bought some big ones at Aldi when they first came out and since then, Jeff and I have both got them from different companies and we have way more than we will ever need for shopping.

Anyone else have any good uses for these bags?

I fear that so many of them are being produced, that in a few years, there will be complaints that the reusable bags are filling up the landfills.

Tuesday sewing and thrift store goodies

I woke up early today, 4:30 a.m., so I did some sewing. I made 2 pair of bloomers for toddler Elizabeth. Most store-bought baby dresses come with bloomers/diaper covers but once you move up to toddler sizes, you usually just get a dress. Elizabeth is for-sure a busy toddler and she will just look a little more dressed with bloomers to cover her diapers when she is wearing dresses.

I met 4 girlfriends for lunch today but I had a few minutes before we were scheduled to meet so I stopped at one thrift store. These fancy embroidered letters, about 4 inches tall, were 5 cents for each bundle. These were they only letters they had. I have no idea what I will do with them but I could not resist for 25 cents total.

I can spell "busy" or "USA" except the A's are orange.

I love buying bias binding at thrift stores. I used bias binding on all 4 of the aprons I made last week as well as the casing for the elastic legs on the bloomers. And I really like it when I can find it for 5 cents a package.

3 nice lengths of fabric. The apple and polka dots pieces are 2+ yards each and the red checks have 4+ yards.

I also bought 1 shirt and 2 pair of shorts for Gavin and a vintage gold 8x10 photo frame for 10 cents.

Lunch was so much we fun, we are going to met again next week too.

thoughts on Monday

July is the time to buy whatever school supplies you might need for the coming year. Sale prices are low right now.

This is my 3rd year to get the 70 page spiral notebooks for 10 cents each at Big Lots. I make all kinds of lists in a spiral, everything for my daily to-do lists, grocery lists, bill paying schedules, gift ideas.

I also like to stock up on glue sticks for craft projects when they are on sale for back to school but have not done that yet.

any school supplies you like to stock up on for your home?

these 2 pictures are not good but they are the best I can take right now. My digital camera gets lots of use and is acting up, whenever I rotate a picture, it disappears - so I can only take horizontal pictures and not vertical ones.

These are my aprons. I just finished sewing 4 of them. It takes me longer to finish things than it used to but after about 3 weeks of sporadic sewing, I finally finished them.

I have them hanging on a coat rack in the laundry room. I guess I have 7 aprons now, one for each day of the week!

oh, and I am getting a new camera this week. Just have to decide which one and where to buy it.

Want to know more about fiber?

Just in case you are worried about me after eating so much fried food on Saturday, I am showing you what I had today for breakfast.

I had Fiber One Honey Squares with skim milk and cantaloupe.

Fiber One Honey Squares are the newest flavor from Fiber One

I got my box free from Pssst. they are not paying me for my opinion but they did send me a box to try and some coupons.

I really like fiber One Honey Squares, the squares are light and just a touch sweet.

here is some fiber info provided by General Mills. You can up your fiber intake with FiberOne or with lots of foods.

10 Tips to Get your Daily Fiber
Most Americans are not getting the recommended 25 grams of fiber each day. With Fiber One cereal, it's easier than ever to increase your daily fiber intake. Try using these 10 simple tips to help reach your fiber goals.
1) Scan for Bran Look for “bran,” “whole grain” and “whole wheat” on product packages and ingredient labels. These ingredients can help boost fiber intake. ¾ cup Fiber One® 80 Calories = 10g fiber
2) Grab the Whole Food Munch on a whole piece of fruit in place of drinking a glass of juice. You’ll get the nutrients and the fiber too. 1 medium apple = 3g fiber
3) Savor the Skins Eat fruit and vegetables with the skin on. Eating the skin helps to bump up the fiber, plus it provides texture and a bonus of other nutrients. 1 medium baked potato with skin on = 4g fiber
4) Screen for Beans Replace your typical side dishes with high-fiber dried peas and beans, such as kidney, pinto, lentils or black-eyed peas. These fiber-packed legumes make it easier to meet daily fiber goals. ½ cup canned red kidney beans = 8g fiber
5) Go Nuts Jazz up salads, vegetables, snacks and desserts with almonds, sunflower seeds or soy nuts. Nuts and seeds add fiber and fun-to-chew crunch to foods. 1 ounce roasted almonds = 3g fiber
6) Be Berry Wild Choose raspberries, blackberries and boysenberries to add variety to your cereals. These berries have twice the fiber of many other fruit selections. ½ cup fresh raspberries = 4g fiber
7) Bring on the Brown Use brown rice instead of white. Switch to whole wheat pasta, whole wheat flour, whole wheat breads and whole grain crackers instead of regular white versions. 1 cup brown rice = 3g fiber
8) Skip the Chips Select snacks that are a good source of fiber. Instead of potato chips, go for low-fat popcorn, whole-grain pretzels or oven-crisped whole-wheat pita triangles. 3 cups popcorn = 4g fiber
9) Drink Up Water is a healthy beverage choice—especially as you up the fiber. Your body needs more water to help process the added fiber you eat. Aim for eight 8-oz glasses of water each day.
10) Sneak in Some Fiber One cereal Incorporate Fiber One cereal into your favorite side dishes or use to top yogurt, salads or oatmeal.¼ cup Fiber One Original cereal for sprinkling = 7g fiber

I have six $1 coupons for Fiber One 80 calorie cereal. exp. 12/9/11 It would be my pleasure to share them, so if you want some , let me know how many you would like. I will send them to the first commenters until they all requested.

updated - the coupons have been spoken for. Hope you will come back for the 2 other giveaways I have scheduled soon.

Fry Party

About 4 months ago, we thought we needed a deep fryer so we bought a small one at Walmart. It works great though we don't use it much.
Our children all thought a deep fryer was a great idea and it became quite a conversation piece while it sat on the kitchen counter.
So, they decided we should have a fry party and make home versions of some of the crazy popular fried foods served at fairs.
We finally had that fry party this weekend to celebrate Jeff's July birthday and John's brand new Masters degree.

Sorry no pictures, fried food just looks brown and I was pretty busy with the 9 adults and 2 toddlers here.

The new recipes we tried are very worth recommending.

First we started out with

fried mushrooms
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/deep-fried-mushrooms/detail.aspx

fried green beans
http://www.mommyskitchen.net/2011/07/crispy-fried-green-beans-wzesty-dipping.html

and corn dogs made with little smokies sausages
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/corn-dogs/detail.aspx

all 3 of these recipes were delicous and were gobbled up fast. I did not make any special dipping sauces, though they would of been good, we like mustard, ketchup and barbecue sauce just fine.

Then my mother in law cooked chicken tenders.

Next, were my favorite of the day
Onion Strings - the recipe calls for red onions but I used sweet yellow onions and they could not of been better.
http://www.macheesmo.com/2011/07/red-onion-strings/

Then we tried some fried cheese
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/fried-mozzarella-cheese-sticks/detail.aspx
We used string cheese and Cowboy cheese. Both were very good.
This breading recipe makes enough for many sticks of cheese though, we fried about 15 sticks and had more than half of the coating left.

Not that we needed any, but we had fried dessert next.
First John fried Oreos dipped in leftover waffle batter. I was not expecting to like them, I mean how can you improve Oreos? Much to my surprise, deep fried Oreos are great.
He also fried some frozen mini Snickers - they fell apart - and frozen mini Milky Ways. I hear they were yummy but I did not try them.

The frying took almost 2 hours from start to finish and several of us took turns breading and watching the fryer. It was a fun and informal way to have an unusual meal.

We had also talked about having fried pickles, jalapeno poppers, french fries, doughnuts, corn fritters and chimichangas but we would of been cooking and eating till nightfall if we had cooked them too.
I expect we will do a fry party again, maybe in a year. It was delicious and fun, but not a meal any of us want or need to eat too often.

If you just want to try one of these recipes - and they are all good - the onion strings were the hands down favorite.

Jane Snead Samplers are available again!

This sampler is still timeless, especially with today's financial uncertainties!

All of these pretty samplers were made by mom. She has always done lots of handwork from crocheting to sewing to quilting. These embroidered samplers are some of my favorite things that she has made.

I blogged about them on my old blog http://ahomewithasmile.blogspot.com/2009/10/jane-snead-samplers.html

Since then, I have received several comments from other Jane Snead fans and stitchers that are looking for Jane Snead.

Well, this week, I got an email that made me smile!

here is the email I got from Joan

Hello -
I enjoyed the photos of the completed Jane Snead Samplers on your blog site, At Home With a Smile, which I came upon while searching the internet for some of these samplers.
I am happy to share the news that Jane Snead Samplers are back. The woman who now owns the company is a member of the original family and she has an inventory of the kits that she is now selling on eBay. Just go to eBay and enter "Jane Snead" in the search box and the items will come up. If you do not see a particular design you are looking for, you can contact the seller and she will let you know if it is available in which case she will list it on eBay. The seller is very nice to deal with. Her eBay i.d. is: planb2239
I have bought a number of the kits myself and am delighted with them.
Good luck shopping to you and the others who posted interest in the samplers on your blog(s).

So I went right over to Ebay and looked up seller planB2239

http://myworld.ebay.com/planb2239/?_trksid=p4340.l2559

Just click on the Items for Sale button to see her listings.

She is selling lots of Jane Snead samplers. They are buy it now which is my favorite way to purchase things on Ebay. She has free shipping and very reasonable prices.

So if you are would like to browse some retro samplers or want to do some stamped embroidery, you might want to take a look at Jane Snead.

I am trying to decide which one I want to order first.

Crock pot tip and more bragging about my grandbabies

I've been cooking with the crockpot this summer, it heats up the kitchen a lot less than baking things in the oven.
One of our favorite things is to cook pork loin on high until it is tender enough to shred.
At the very end, I add barbecue sauce (we like Head Country because it tastes good and is made in Oklahoma
http://www.headcountry.com/)

anyway, can you see how the inside of the crockpot, even after I cooked that roast and took out the leftovers, looks pretty clean?
My trick for easy clean up is to spray the inside with cooking spray, like Pam, before you cook.
I've been doing this for a few months and no matter what I cook, clean up is a breeze. Washing the inside is as easy as washing a dinner plate.

Little Elizabeth and her momma came for a visit today to see how Grandpa Jeff is recuperating.

They read a few books and had some fun visiting. Elizabeth is 13 months old and she loves to sit and read books. She like it when a grown-up does the reading and she also likes to sit alone and look at books by herself.

Gavin and his momma came yesterday for a short visit. Gavin had been to the doctor and was not feeling his best so I did not take any pictures. Gavin was so concerned about his Grandpa and gave Grandpa the sticker that he had just got from his doctor. Isn't that sweet?

Gavin had a dry cough and was not feeling just right, the doctor did not seem to know exactly what was wrong with him. His momma thinks he might just be too tired and that the cough could be from swimming and getting a little water in his lungs.

3 Blogs I really like

My friend Susan has 2 young sons that are getting ready to go to camp. She has such a funny story about them, I promise it will give you a happy laugh.

http://mypeacefulvalley.blogspot.com/

Terri, who some of you know as Penny Ann Poundwise, has started a new blog. She explains why she made the change in her first post.

http://inthebluehouseonthehill.blogspot.com/

Melanie has a sweet blog too. Today, she has some wonderful pictures from her yard. It is amazing how many pretty and different plants she has in a small space.

http://comfyhouse.blogspot.com/

I've known these 3 women for 10 years or more. We all became friends on a yahoogroups list about homemaking, long before blogs were so popular.

It's Hot, Jeff's Make do and Mend and an anniversary

Hello everyone from Hot Oklahoma. I just called our local time and temp message and it said it is 109 right now.

So needless to say, any outdoor housework is getting done first thing in the morning and I am staying in the house with the AC and ceiling fans on. No break in the weather is predicted until at least 12 days out either.

Oklahoma tends to have extreme weather so we are used to it and expect it.

We are praying for rain though as the lack of rain and high heat has devastated crops and livestock.

My husband had knee surgery yesterday - sort of a make do and mend -as his procedure was a scope surgery to clean out his left knee. The doctor said the damage inside Jeff's knee was not as bad as he expected so he just cleaned out the parts that were causing grinding and sewed him back up.

Jeff's surgery was at the Oklahoma City VA hospital and I cannot say enough good things about the care he got there. The news has many sad stories about Veterans who are treated badly and I think it is a shame that all VA centers are not staffed as well as the Oklahoma City VA hospital.

4 years ago this week, Nina and John got married.

This is John and Nina, about 15 months ago

Nina, their baby Elizabeth and John

just last week at Top Sail, North Carolina

Aren't they a cute family?

Happy anniversary

to my favorite daughter and favorite son in law.

John rolls his eyes when I call them that

because they are my only daughter and son in law.

latest make do and mend



My latest make do and mend projects have been to rework the
family photos over the sofa. 
I reframed a few of them and added some mirrors. 
It still needs a few more frames and another mirror to finish it off
so I will keep looking at yard sales.
We also moved the oak rocker and ottoman in the living room and
I sewed a simple slipcover for it. 



wonder where Elizabeth has been?
she enjoyed a week at the North Carolina beach
with her parents and other relatives.
She did give this rocking chair her
seal of approval,  it is good for
wiggling and wallowing on!

Join the party or read about more make do and mend projects at Heidi's
http://thecranberrychronicle.blogspot.com/

Staycation

We have enjoyed a staycation part of this week. 
One day,  we took grandson Gavin to the Oklahoma Aquarium in Jenks.
Gavin liked this fish display the most.
The fish were at ground level, right where Gavin is. 

I think this was the Oklahoma bass exhibit.

A life size Oklahoma alligator bronze statue
Gavin was very bothered by the rocks inside the gator's mouth
He was not happy until he took
everyone of them out. 

Me,  Grandma Rhonda with Gavin
No, my hair does not always look quite this wild
but it was a windy Oklahoma day. 

All in all,  a staycation has been very nice.  We took care of a few projects around this house,
ate out a couple of times,
did a little shopping and took several naps.

What are you doing this summer? 
I hope whatever it is that you are enjoying it.

watching Gavin grow...with a patriotic theme

the little flag quilt is staying the same but the boy keeps growing!

2009

2010

2011

Gavin,  looking so grown up this year.
He is 2 years and 5 months old. 



Gavin and his Grandpa had lots of fun waving the little
American flags and saying
woo woo   over and over!