Jammin' in the New Year!!

YES... 

I have found THE perfect jam recipe!

TOMATO JAM

}cue angels singing{

This past summer, I found THIS recipe from Marisa at Food In Jars.

And let me tell you it has become a favorite of Cookie Man!

Sooo Perfect, I may change his name to 

"Tomato Jam Man"!

OK...not doing any name changes...as of now, 

but I will revisit the idea after another batch of this Tomato Wonder is made!!

It's great on Turkey Burgers

and the Cookie Man LOVES it in an egg burrito!

The recipe calls for every delicious morsel of the tomato to be used...

skin, seeds ...the WHOLE ENCHILADA!

Oh my!!

This spicy jam would be GREAT on my mom's enchiladas!!

*note to self...CALL YOUR MOM!!

The last couple of times I made the jam, it took me 2 hours to finely chop the tomatoes!

2 HOURS!!

 I have 4 kids 5yo and under...

PLEASE TELL ME THERE IS AN EASIER WAY!!

HELLO!!!

}cue angels singing...AGAIN!{

See this...

It's my juicer! 

And I LOVE IT!

I love it so much I may change my name to 

"Vallima-joos"!

*wink- he he

OK...but seriously, it has revolutionized MY Tomato Jam making!

I simply juiced the 5 pounds of tomatoes then threw the pulp in the pot!!!

 BAM!!

Done in 5 minutes!!

Added the ingredients!

and went from this

 to this...

 in 2 hours!
  

What can you do in the New Year to 'Lighten your load', in the kitchen or around your home?

Linking to

 

Happy New Year!!

I've enjoyed the break but 

I am so excited to get back to blogging!

It's 11:15pm and I just realized I didn't take a picture for the blog!

 Welcome to a New Year!!

Merry Christmas!

Celebrating Our 6 Year Anniversary

Our Unity Candle

Happy 6 year wedding anniversary Cookie Man!!

 

To Celebrate Our Marriage - DAY 17

I am still participating in the 31 Days of Love Challenge at Time-Warp Wife.

 "31 Days of Love" will challenge you daily to live beyond yourself, 

to put aside your preconceived ideas of what romance should look like, 

and seek out true love that is sacrificial and intentional." 

-Darlene Schacht

I decided to keep it private and work on it through journaling and lots of prayer.

I find it has already helped me so much as a wife.

Click on the above link and read the daily challenges! 

They are amazing.

Here are some of my favorites so far:

Day 6 -Two Ways to Pursue Your Husband 

Day 9- Make Every Day a "Root Canal" Day 

Day 11- Just Ask Him! 

Day 16- Where is my fairytale?

Fishin'

And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." 

~Matthew 4:19

Star Wars The Party

A long, long time ago 

in a galaxy far, far away,

A boy was born.

His name was UNO.

This is his party.

{cue Star Wars Theme music}

Cookie Man challenged me to a budget of $60.

And I did it!

I made the invitations,but only made 6 to pass out.

I did have them printed for $1.50 total!

The kids were told to come dressed as their favorite Star Wars Character.

The party favors, the light sabers took half of the budget, $27

but I wouldn't have traded that for anything.

They were great!!

Battle on the Galactic Grass

UNO recieved his gifts from us the day of his birthday.

The gifts became part of the party decor = FREE.

Birthday Gifts = Free Decor

The Millennium Falcon was a gift from Christmas. The Helmet- a garage sale find

I normally would have made the cupcake toppers

but I saved the packaging from his gifts and 

with my 1 1/2" circle cutter began to cut out the images from the packaging!

It was super simple and FREE!

 

Cookie Man's mom made the cupcakes = FREE!

UNO and his sisters

 

We ordered pizza, which was $30.

For drinks, I made Lemonade with ReaLemon Juice and Sugar, which I already had = FREE!

DOS as Princess Leia

For games/ activities, Cookie Man recorded Star Wars music and sounds on the iPad.

It definitely set the mood of the party.

Imagine kids swinging their light sabers and the light saber sound echoing in the background...AWESOMENESS... = FREE!!

 

Cookie Man drew the Death Star on the back wall, it was for a game that we didn't end up doing 

but it looked great! Outdoor Decorations = FREE!

Kick the ball at the Storm Trooper

We had the jumper up that my sister gave me for my birthday = FREE!

 

Each kid also received a Jedi Training Certificate that Cookie Man found on the internet.

Cookie Man edited it in Photoshop.

(Also, there is also a typo on the certificate...Padewan instead of Padwan)

TRES... the cutest Darth Vader and her Jedi certificate

I usually get so caught up in the presentation of the party that I don't really think of cost.

I am happy Cookie Man challenged me.

It was definitely simple and stress free!

 

I'm not really sure where this fits in to the theme but I LOVE HIM!!

UNO had a great time with his friends...

and THAT is the most important thing!

 

Happy Birthday UNO!

MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU

 

Star Wars Party- Party Favors

When UNO finally decided on a birthday party theme, 

I started searching for THE perfect take home favors.

Hello! Light Sabers!!!

I searched for ideas that ran from pool noodles, to dowels, to PVC pipe.

I chose PVC pipe.

I saw a post about making them here.

I made my adjustments to share with you.

My light sabers are 2' long...  the perfect length for 5 year olds and under.

The above link has her's 3', which I think is great for older kids and adults.

I went to Home Depot to buy the supplies.

They even cut it for me.

(Thanks Adam!)

Note: It is cheaper to buy the super long pipes than to buy pre-cut ones.

For 1 Star Wars Light Saber

YOU NEED:

2'- smallest PVC pipe

2'-  Pipe insulation that fits over the PVC pipe

6"-  PVC pipe for insulated pipe to fit snugly inside

Grey Duct Tape

Colored "Duck" Tape

Slide the Insulation over the thinner PVC pipe

Slide the Insulated pipe into the 6" pipe

This is what your light saber looks like before taping

wrap the handle with the grey duct tape

A light saber, this is going to be.

(NOTE: Yoda would have said this to me if here were reading this post!)

Next, wrap your colored duck tape overlapping the grey at the base of the handle

YES! The force is with me!! A Light Saber!!

Honestly, it took me about 15 minutes to make one!!

Happy 5th Birthday UNO!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNO!!

WE LOVE YOU!

You don’t raise heroes; you raise sons. 

And if you treat them like sons, 

they’ll turn out to be heroes, 

even if it’s just in your own eyes.  

~ Walter Schirra Sr.

To Celebrate Our Marriage- DAY 2

Search me, God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my anxious thoughts.  

See if there is any offensive way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting. 

~Psalm 139: 23-24

To Celebrate Our Marriage

7 years ago, September 14, I met the man God chose for me. 

The weekend we met in person

 On October 22, we will be celebrating our 6 year anniversary.

In Vienna on our honeymoon

  My love for him grows stronger with each passing day.

YUP...this is him!

Today is the beginning of "31 Days of Love" Challenge at Time-Warp Wife.

 "31 Days of Love" will challenge you daily to live beyond yourself, to put aside your preconceived ideas of what romance should look like, and seek out true love that is sacrificial and intentional."-Darlene Schacht

 Join me as I fall in love, all over again,with the man of my dreams!

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I Corinthians 13:1-13

Monthly Memories-September

TRES and her Pig Tails

I will be adding more pictures to Monthly Memories!

I just wanted to make sure it posted today!

Happy last day of September!

A "Hunter" Baby Shower

I recently helped host a baby shower for a friend. 

I LOVE to entertain and have parties so of course I jumped right into the planning!

After planning a Camp Out theme...

the baby shower was eventually switched to a "Hunter" theme.

We started out with an evite with cute wording!

They're expecting a new "Hunter" for their crew
A brother for ____ & ____ and a hunting buddy for daddy too!
Let's help them prepare for a sweet baby boy
with a pair of camo pants and a pin-shooter for a toy!

Open Season starts DATE
Target time TIME
Hunting Grounds PLACE
Join the Hunt Club RSVP
Big Game Registry REGISTRY

 Each hostess brought their ideas and transformed them into a beautiful celebration

for Momma and Baby Hunter!

Twig WELCOME sign

 The Table Setting

 

Baby Shower Games

Shooting Practice

Closest to the bulls eye WINS!

Our guest of honor

Only at a "Hunting" shower 

would you have a 
gun and target game!

The Food    
I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the food table!!

~MENU~
Pulled Pork
Rolls
Deviled Eggs
 Cole Slaw
Texas Baked Beans
Fruit Salad

My plate

The Dessert Table

Chocolate Fountain with lots of goodies for dipping!

Yummy Smores Dessert

The Trail Mix Bar

Beautiful Twig Sign

Bark lined Cans were adorable for serving

~Trail Mix Bar Menu~

Granola

Craisins

M & M's

Chocolate Chips

Mixed Nuts

Dry Roasted Peanuts

Honey Goldfish

Butterscotch and White Chocolate Chips

Marshmallows

Baby Shower Inspired by Pinterest
"Hunter" Baby Shower
It's a Camp Out Baby Shower