Happy 2010 Earth Day!

I'm going to further my efforts to reduce spending in our house since keeping costs down keeps bank accounts up! As a side effect, we will also be living a little greener because of it!

This weekend we are completely revamping our backyard. We will be moving the gravel to the back of the yard and creating a wonderful landscape that will give our children somewhere safe to play. We will be laying sprinklers and drippers, planting grass, a blue and a yellow hibiscus and an Aprium tree. We plan on harvesting the Apriums for fruit, juice, jams, and sauces. In addition the tree will be a wonderful source of shade for the yard. Also, I am planting a vegetable garden with bell peppers, tomatoes, peas, and carrots. How do we plan on keeping our yard beautiful with our three monster dogs? A large dog run on the west side of our yard! It will be perfect.

After our yard project, I will be making homemade dishwasher detergent since I go through so many loads of dishes during the week!

After Easter Clean-up

Easter 2010 is the first holiday get together I have ever hosted in my own home. It went so well I am considering which holiday I'd like to host next! The house was clean and sparkling, the food was top notch! I made from scratch 13 dishes and my brother brought a side of spicy bbq beans (he insisted) and everyone ate their fill. We had a wonderful BBQ pork roast which cooked for 8 hours, garlic mashed potatoes, bacon cheese tarts, baked mozzarella balls, shrimp, pudding pie, lemon and raspberry jello squars, lemon glazed pound cake, vanilla braid bread, and so much more. My 18 month old son got to hunt for Easter eggs (which he thoroughly enjoyed) and I got to be in great company.

Ever since my husband and I first got together we ate our meals in front of the television while watching our favorite shows. Last night I did some minor reorganizing and after the kids were asleep my husband and I ate dinner at our dining room table for the first time ever. It was quiet and awkward, but nice. This morning all four of us ate breakfast as a family at the kitchen table. It was so wonderful! I felt like I was in a dream or a family from television. I cooked up french toast and hamsteaks for myself, my husband and my son, my daughter got cheerios and a bottle of milk. This is the start of something I truly love. I am so glad our family made this change.

For the rest of the day I have household recovery scheduled. This basically means my house needs to recover from my Easter party. I will be some much needed scrubbing and cleaning since there were several spills.