Winter Wonderland :)

view from our Kitchen window :)

This is our first winter in our New Home ...We started to see some flurries yesterday but nothing much . My youngest Adam already wanted to just go outside to make a snowman !  Living in Florida all his life made watching the snow come down  outside such a big treat for him .
I talked him out of going outside knowing there was more snow (blizzard ) on its way  :)  , The rest of the day was fun babysitting for my sisters kids while she did some of her Christmas Shopping .

This morning we woke up to almost 2 feet of snow ! and WOW the look on Adams face grew wider .He was so excited as soon as he woke up and looked outside that he ate breakfast in a minute and can not seem to put on his snowsuit fast enough LOL but his older brother is still asleep so he is now removing his snow suit and waiting and waiting hoping his brother comes down for breakfast soon to venture out into the snow for some real fun with snowball fights and building snow forts to hide from the snowballs . He has a lot of imagination and really makes the little things in our life more meaningful and well appreciated as they should be .

We will be spending the day sipping on Hot chocolate, roasting marshmellow's by the fire  and playing in the snow .

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow .

Going green around the Holidays

If you thought going green around the Holidays was going to be hard just look around you and think for a minute and save a tree !

wrapping presents can be fun , easy and GREEN !  Have you ever thought of using newspaper comics to wrap a present in ? be creative and make a matching bow .

If you have fabric around , use it to wrap presents .

Kids art work from school would be great to wrap grandparents presents , they would be thrilled !

Old maps would also be great for wrapping.

clothing is also a fun way to wrap ... If you have something tubular , a pair of socks would be especially fun to wrap and receive.



Old Christmas/birthday/anniversary cards can be cut up with pinking shears to make new tags for this years presents.

Any other ideas ???

Deck The Halls

Our Tree 2009


Our tree with the snow village

Tips To make your home very festive looking with very little work .

Add a special holiday touch in every room of your house .

If your putting up a Xmas tree in one room ... place your Nativity scene in a different room , Your snow village in yet another room .  Add little color by changing your doilies to festive colors  like red, blue, or green .add small holiday guest towels in the bathroom . add holiday salt & pepper shakers in your kitchen , keep it simple and elegant . As you go to each room , you will get into the holiday spirit and you`ll get to enjoy all your hard work each and every day no matter what room you spend your time in the most.

Making a list , Checking it twice !

My son`s Gingerbread House

Now that Thanksgiving is over . Time to make your list and check it twice and start looking for those bargains !

I am so out of it this year ... first my move back to NY in a Rental house  , Then the move into our NEW HOME ,  and now Thanksgiving at our house ...I have a huge family !, It just wears me out to even think of the shopping I now have to start . I am usually all done by this week yet this year I haven`t even gotten started yet. My cold is not making matters any better .

Black Fridays are for the birds , I just can`t see getting so stressed shopping in those crowds and standing on line forever just to save $30.00 !  I do try to get whatever I can from online and their specials are almost as good as the Black Fridays prices with Free Shipping included. 

My advise is ... find a bargain online and grab it !

Time for Decking the halls and really getting into the Spirit of the Holidays .

Money saving tip(laundry)

As I was doing my laundry today , I wondered how many of us ladies think of how much electric we waste when doing the laundry . I was in the habit of doing 1 load of  laundry every day to make it easier on me . 

My new way of doing the laundry is making sure I have 2 full loads to be ready for the wash at once .  Not only will you save.. water, electric, and soap  by doing less loads per week if your loads are full!, but you will also be saving on your electric bill by running your dryer one load after the other so that the dryer does not have time to cool off before your next load goes in . Also clean your lint AFTER EACH LOAD !! Your clothes will dry alot faster . Clothes should be shook piece by piece as you put them in the dryer .  If your clothes took 40 minutes to dry before  , following these steps will dry them in 20 to 30 minutes ! 

Quick Dusting Tip

Okay we all have socks with holes or some odd sock you can never find the pair to because it miraculously disappeared  , especially if you have kids . What do you do with them ? Throw them out ?  Well after washing them I wear them on my hands and go dusting !  They are so much better than paper towels . It makes dusting a breeze . dampen it with a little water and some cleaning solution and run your hands over the radiators  ! Then just toss the socks away .  Old T`shirts are great for dusting as well  , and those old towels ... I cut them up and use them to wash my floors ! , They are better than any mop head I have ever used . I cut smaller pieces to use for cleaning my bathrooms  , smaller rags are easier to clean with in smaller places and then just throw them away.


Have any cleaning tips ? leave me a comment !

GETTING READY FOR THE HOLIDAYS

It seams that this is the time of year when we all start to stress over the Holidays .   I find that if I make mental notes in my head early in advance I can get through the Holidays enjoying myself more and stressing a whole lot less.

For starters , it is still weeks before Thanksgiving so of course we have plenty of time to prep! before the day arrives .. I start by prepping things for my table , I want to make a turkey centerpiece this year so this is the time to get started on that . I make a mental note of how many tables & chairs I`ll be needing so that if I need someone to bring me chairs , I`ll know it in advance. I make sure that all my table cloths are clean and ready to use .
This is when I start to write up my menu and I make a list of Items that I will need for my recipes and any paper good that I will need , then the week before the Holiday I will check my list against my pantree and mark off anything I have already bought and have on hand .
One week before Thanksgiving I`ll be baking my pies , and setting my tables .

Okay so the plan is all set now lets see if it goes smooth ! From my past experience it always goes smooth ! I won`t have it any other way !  :)

Lets not forget what Thanksgiving is all about . Give thanks to everyone and let us all enjoy our time together with friends and family .

PEACE TO ALL, and Thank you for reading ,

Nee