Americana Rednesday!

It's Rednesday and it comes at a perfect time with the Forth of July just around the corner! I was born with a deep love for America and see wonderful beauty in our flag. Over the years I've collected little pieces of Americana to decorate our home office. Today I would like to share my collection with you. Do note that two of the pictures I shared a few months back but they had to be shared again! :-) Happy Rednesday















I had to share this last picture, a sweet moment with our two girls, watching a movie, cuddling in our American flag quilt.



Be sure to visit It's A Very Cherry World to see other fun RED things for Rednesday!

Treat Tuesday - Oatmeal Cookies

I've been making these oatmeal cookies since junior high! I think the recipe first came from the Quaker Oatmeal Box. They are easy and yummy! I enjoy adding different things to change up the cookies. For example, last week I added chocolate chips and pecans, yummy but rich! I hope you enjoy!


This time I added butterscotch chips

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 ½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
3 cups oats
Optional add-ins, 1 cup cranberries and 1 cup white chocolate chips OR 1 cup walnuts and 1 cup coconut OR 1 cup raisins OR 1 cup butterscotch chips OR 1 cup chocolate chips OR you get the idea! ;-)

PREHEAT oven to 375°F.
COMBINE In large bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well. Add combined flour, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and cinnamon; mix well. Add oats; mix well. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
BAKE 10 to 11 minutes. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; remove to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered.

*NOTE* If you do add in chocolate chips etc. stir them in by hand, it keeps the dough from getting tough.

Field Trip Fridays

My girls tend to get bored when hanging out at home day in and day out during the summer. When they get bored often they fight or misbehave. So this summer I decided to start Field Trip Friday. A day to do something fun, maybe free and simple like a picnic at a park or something fun like a trip to the museum or zoo. I work best when things are planned and on the calendar otherwise the days come and go. I do agree that children need to learn to be bored and create things to do but it is fun to go places too! Last week was our first official week of summer. Our field trip ended up being on Thursday but we still went. This week it will be on Saturday with Daddy (a day in the mountains) but at least I have a day in mind! :-)

Our first field trip of the summer was strawberry picking. We had great fun and both the girls talked about it for days. Of course the reward was yummy!

AMAZING Homemade Window Cleaner!

I don't know about your windows but now that the sun is shinning (FINALLY!) you can see how dirty the windows really are! Our store bought cleaner was not doing the trick. It always left streaks with little pieces of fuzz from the paper towel, it drove me crazy! Today I decided to try a homemade recipe and use a squeegee. WOW is all I can say! The recipe is super easy and VERY inexpensive to make and by using the squeegee I'm saving lots of paper towels.


Our slider leading to the backyard. It is SO clean now I'm afraid someone might walk into it!

Homemade Window Cleaner Recipe

1/3 cup water
1/3 cup rubbing alcohol
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Mix all together. That's it!

*Recipe can be doubled if you need more but a little does go a long way*

Recipe is from Simple Country Wisdom

Dance Recital

It has been crazy around here with the end of school, Grace got strep throat and the girls had a dance recital! Ah, summer can begin!

Here are my favorite pictures from the girls' dance recital. They both did GREAT! It was Jilian's first time. I am one proud mommy! ;-)





For fun I'm participating in Wordless Wednesday at The Miller Racing Family.

Wordless Wednesday

Discovering one of the first roses in our yard





Today I'm participating in Wordless Wednesday over at The Miller Racing Family, spot by to see other Wordless Wednesday posts!

A great new blog!

There is a new blog, in blog land! Raising Homemakers, "dedicated to inspiring, teaching and blessing mothers who have an interest in raising their daughter in godliness and preparing them in the arts of homemaking to the glory of God."

I don't know about you, but I need all the help I can get to stay encouraged and on track! I'm excited to receive some from Raising Homemakers!

Since they have just launched their website this week, they are having some great giveaways! One that looks AWESOME is a set of 10 DVDs called Homestead Blessings from Franklin Springs Media. The DVDs covers such topics as gardening, canning, quilting, candle making and much more. Click here for a chance to win.

Treat Tuesday - Chewy Peanut Butter Cookies

As I've mentioned before when the cookie jar is empty, it makes me sad! Each week I'm baking or making some sort of treat for my family to fill the jar. When it is a treat I haven't shared before, I'll be sure to share it on "Treat Tuesday".

Enjoy!


This recipe does have a lot of ingredients, but boy are they YUMMY!

Ingredients

2 3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon(s) baking powder
1/2 teaspoon(s) baking soda
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1 cup(s) (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
1 cup(s) creamy peanut butter
1 cup(s) packed brown sugar
1/2 cup(s) granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dark corn syrup
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2.On waxed paper, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3.In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter, peanut butter, and sugars until creamy, occasionally scraping bowl with rubber spatula. Beat in corn syrup, vanilla, then eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, gradually add flour mixture; beat just until blended, occasionally scraping bowl. Cover and refrigerate dough 30 minutes for easier shaping.
4.Shape dough by rounded measuring tablespoons into 1 1/2-inch balls. Place balls, 2 inches apart, on ungreased large cookie sheet. With floured tines of fork, press and flatten each ball, making a crisscross pattern. Bake cookies 12 to 13 minutes or until golden. Transfer cookies to wire rack to cool. Repeat with remaining dough.

*Note* This recipes comes from Good Housekeeping Favorite Recipes - Cookies!