My Tastebuds Are Thanking Me!

Today, I am thankful for the new product I found in our local Walmart dairy department:

Coffee Flavored Yoplait Yogurt!

Yes, you read that right. COFFEE flavored YOGURT!

Apparently, this product is so new that the official Yoplait website doesn't even have it listed as a flavor yet. I'm not sure if this is a test run for the flavor, but I better find out how to let the company know I'm *loving* it!

Now I just need to figure out how to smuggle more into my home without a dear little boy spotting it. Mr. Coffee Hound that he is.

If you live in my area, I apologize in advance. By tomorrow evening you probably won't be able to find this product on the shelves in any store in the surrounding 25 miles.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Thank you Yoplait!!

Summer Salads

Okay, so this week is the last week of summer vacation and my calendar is looking like blogging will have to be short and sweet.

So, I'm hoping to provide at least a couple posts this week of some summertime salads that I've been making. Recently, in the course of one week we had three potlucks to make something for and I found a boatload of simple salads to choose from in my treasure trove of cookbooks.



Spaghetti Salad

1 lb. long spaghetti
1-2 tomatoes (chopped)
1 cucumber (peeled & sliced)
2 T. Shilling Salad Supreme seasoning
1 8 oz. bottle Italian Dressing
(more or less according to your taste)

Optional:
(I'm not a big fan of either of these, so I skipped them)

1 onion (chopped)
1 green pepper (chopped)


Boil spaghetti until done. Rinse until cool and drain well. Add vegetables. Pour dressing over; add salad seasoning and mix. Chill and serve cold.




Enjoy! It's Simple & Delicious!

Hi Lo: August 28th

HI's:

1) I started painting my kitchen & dining room this week. I'm hoping to get it all finished up before school starts in a little over a week. I'm *loving* how it's turned out so far! I'll be posting photos when I'm all finished.

2) Jamie welcomed her sweet baby girl this week. I'm hoping that I can see her sometime soon. Congrats again, Jamie and hubby!

3) I heard wonderful news from a dear friend that she is expecting! She's just 7 weeks and has had a few issues of concern already, so please keep her in your prayers and for a healthy pregnancy and baby.

4) Stacey is out of retirement and back in Blogville! Welcome back Stacey! I always hold Stacey dear since she is the reason I started blogging. We were old acquaintances and a couple of years ago I came upon her blog and it was the first one I ever read. After a long time of following her, I started finding other encouraging blogs and eventually started my own. I'm seriously indebted to Stacey for all of the enlightenment and opening me up to the world of blogging!

5) My FAVORITE Christian recording artist released a new album, 'Come Alive'!(Yes, this really makes it in my Highs for the week. Is that pathetic??) Mark Schultz is my ultimate favorite artist and Reed's as well. His music has been an inspiration to me for many years, way back to his first album I bought when I was single! There are so many of his songs that touch my heart and have comforted me in some very tough days. We've been to several of his concerts and are excited to attend another one in November as part of his 'Come Alive' tour with Point of Grace. Can't wait!


LO's:

1) It doesn't look like I'm going to finish my Mother's Rule of Life book before school starts. I was hoping to in an effort to have some better guidelines before putting together my daily schedule. Oh well, I'll figure something out.

2) I had some time this week to do some pondering and it brought up some very raw emotion with my infertility situation. And perhaps a not-so-startling revelation, but one that I probably just hadn't identified until the other day. There's a post in there somewhere, but I don't have it ready just yet.



How was your week? What were your Highs and Lows this week?

Congratulations Jamie!

See pictures of Jamie's new baby girl over at Christine's blog. She is too precious and looks absolutely perfect. Thank you for your prayers, it sounds like Jamie and baby are both doing well.

You can congratulate Jamie over at her blog.

Congratulations Jamie on your new baby blessing!

Prayers For Jamie

My friend and fellow blogger, Jamie, could use your prayers this evening. She is going in to deliver her sweet baby TODAY and we all cannot wait to hear the news of the arrival of healthy baby Bridget.

Jamie will have a c-section and she could use special intercession on her behalf to our Blessed Mother Mary for her and baby's safety since this is her fifth c-section.

Please join me and pray for sweet Jamie, won't you?

If We Ever Win

Do you pay attention to those sweepstakes and surveys on your sales receipts? You know, the ones frequently on your Walmart and Target slips? We do! Well, actually, for a long time I just disregarded them and threw them in the trash. That was until Reed started filling them out online EVERY TIME we got one and made it his part-time job. No, seriously. Now neither of us lets a single one go into the trash unless we've filled it out.

I realize that we're probably like a million other people who fill those out every day. Our chances of winning these $1,000 and $5,000 gifts for in-store use are really slim, but it's worth the effort. The surveys are really quite simple and take just a few minutes, so what's there to lose?

Do you do online surveys in hopes of winning? And if not, I suppose I've just inspired you and now I've got even more competition in those sweepstakes, huh? Oh well. Every man/woman for themselves!

Any way, I was thinking the other day about what I'd..oops, excuse me..I mean what WE'D get if we won. It seemed that my items were more WANTS than NEEDS. I predicted that if I had the chance to choose anything I wanted, I would. Things on my 'maybe one day' list or my 'wish list' of things that we normally would have to save some money for.

I'd really like this T.V. for starters. And well, with that new T.V. we could really enjoy the Wii system and then the Wii Fit would also be in order. I guess if we are getting all of that we'd need some games for it too. And the accessories.

That added up quite quickly, didn't it? And now I suppose I am looking quite greedy and consumerist, rather than the conservative and frugal woman I really am. But then, I'm just playing the 'what if' game with the potential of MAYBE ACTUALLY winning...one day. We'll probably continue to fill out those store surveys, but in the meantime we'll also keep watching our budget and try to save up for those things instead.

I must say though that this post came to light around the same time that our parish priest had a homily on 'wants' and 'needs'. Coincidence?

Hi Lo: August 21st

HI's:

1) We enjoyed lunch on Sunday with friends and then took off for a last minute overnight trip a couple hours away. We spent the night at a hotel and part of Monday at an outdoor water park. We all had so much fun and I was glad we took the impromptu trip. There's nothing like family time, just the four of us!

2) I am closer to my goal in our schoolroom. I've been working on organizing/rearranging the room off and on for the last few weeks. I'm hoping that it will be completely finished and ready to go in the next few days.

3) The kids and I were able to join Reed and his co-workers yesterday for lunch at the office. They do monthly grilling with two staff people in charge of bringing food each time and it was Reed's turn. We were in town doing errands any way, so we joined in. The kids get lots of attention (although they aren't particularly fond of it all), but usually have a good time any way.


LO's:

1) I'm thinking that a little painting is in order for my kitchen. That's more of a High for me, but not so much for my husband. Not that he really cares what I do for painting/decorating, but he's always fine with just leaving it the way it is. So, the Low for me is more the actual job of painting. Once I start, I just want to be able to finish it and be done. We'll see. I'm sure I'll keep you updated!

2) We're going through another 'funk' in the sleep department. I think the only one getting a good night's sleep around here is Jonah. Lily's having difficulty again and I'm bummed since we had been in a better pattern for a week or so. I'm hoping we can get things turned around pretty soon since school will start in two weeks. I don't want to have a crabby student on my hands at the beginning of the school year!


Colleen shares her Highs & Lows each week too!