Simply Sara

Happy thanks to Meg for the delicious strawberry jam I'm enjoying this morning! I was cleaning out my freezer yesterday and came across an adorable container marked "freezer strawberry jam". You know it's good stuff when you can still enjoy it a year after it was made! :) I've never made jam or jelly, but I have enjoyed some particularly good ones in my lifetime! My love of jam started on my senior trip to London back in 1999. Every morning, Emily and I, along with her parents, would walk down the narrow flights of stairs, or take the claustrophobic elevator, to the bottom floor of a private inn, to enjoy a hot english breakfast. Scones, topped with jam and served with hot tea, of course, completed the delightful meal. Sounds glamorous, doesn't it! Actually, I did feel a bit glamorous as a naive, tender 17 year old staying in another country for the first time. 10 years later (wow - has it really been that long??) I still enjoy sitting down with a cup of ho...

Smoky Black Bean Soup serves 6 (4 WW points each) 3 (15.5 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained 1/4 pound bacon, chopped 1 onion, chopped 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 t. ground cumin 1/2 t. ground chili pepper 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (2 cans) Spray a large saucepan with non-stick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 6-7 minutes. (I removed the bacon with a slotted spoon to let it drain on a paper towel. And I removed most of the bacon grease from the pot. Just leave enough to saute your veggies.) Add peppers, onions, garlic and cook till softened. Add the cumin and chili pepper, cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beans and broth. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat; let cool about 10 minutes. Pour 4 cups of the soup in ...

I love it when we do something special on a Saturday. Since I'm a SAHM with kids who aren't in school all day, boredom can set in quickly if we don't shake things up a bit. This past Saturday, after canceling our yard sale due to the impending rain, the kids and I joined Matt at a Family Fun day for Camperdown Academy at Furman University. Matt's company had been hired to run sound for the event, so we tagged along as roadies. As you can see, I didn't dress my kids for the 64 degree, wind blowing, mist falling weather. Thank goodness Matt had a blanket in his trailer. Matt and I both wore jackets and shorts, but failed to realize that our kids needed jackets too! (I know you're shaking your head in shame, Grandma!) Don't worry, I did remember to put shoes on Ava! There were a lot of fun things to do at the event, including feeding goats, bouncy slides and playhouses, face painting, a magician, great music :), hot dogs and a 5K race. Apparently there was eve...

I'm taking a mini-break from blogging. I need to unplug and figure a few things out. So I'll be back in 3-7 days! Until then, I'll be enjoying the candy corn I picked up at Big Lots today.

Here's what I've learned about whining lately. If you ignore it long enough, it will go away! I'm not kidding you - this tactic really does work! (Are some of you rolling your eyes and saying, DUH?) So that's what I've been doing this past week. Ignoring my kids. Okay, so not really. I mean, how can you completely ignore a high-pitched whine accompanied by tugs on the pant legs and a couple pudgy-handed pats? But I am doing my best to not acknowledge the whine. Some days are better than others.

Lucas and I went to the doctor today for his 4 year well-check. While we had to wait forever to see the doctor, we at least got to wait in an exam room, away from the possibly flu-infected children in the waiting room. I told Lucas before we arrived that he wasn't allowed to play with any of the toys in the waiting area and brought a book from home for him to read instead. Yeah, I'm a little paranoid about my kids catching the swine flu or any nasty virus. My life is complicated enough without sick babies around! Here are Lucas's 4 year stats: Height - 41. 5 inches (78%) Weight - 41 pounds (82%) He is a big boy. And for some reason, this makes his Daddy really proud. I'm guessing it's a man thing, not sure. It was a great visit with a great report. All looks well. We apparently have a healthy, growing, smart boy on our hands. Not that I needed a MD to tell me that, but it certainly was nice to hear! The shots at the end of the visit were not well received. Lots of w...

I added a new button to my side-bar for Southern Savers and you must check it out! Last night I had the privilege of attending an "Extreme Couponing" seminar taught by the ultimate Southern Saver! (Seriously, this girl is amazing!) For two and a half hours I learned the steps, tricks, and strategy to save money in a ridiculous way! Our teacher, a fellow stay at home mom of three, spends $50 a week on groceries and personal care items for their entire family! It is common for her to take home $100 dollars worth of items at a drugstore and pay less than a dollar for it! No, I'm not kidding you! I've been a coupon clipper for a couple years now, and I thought I was doing pretty good at it. But apparently I was really wrong. I've been buying my groceries at Ingles and Walmart, but as I learned last night, these two stores are some of the worst at helping you save money. Publix and Bi-Lo always beat out Ingles, and Walmart never puts anything on sale. Our teacher last ...

Matt and I stayed up late last night doing what I call a little "vision casting". After watching the two hour premire of the Biggest Loser, Matt and I were full of thoughts, ideas and concerns regarding obesity in America. Specifically in children. And even more specifically, in our children. As you know by now, Matt and I have really been hitting the gym hard for the past 6 months. We both are determined to get in and stay in great shape. It has not been easy. After the honeymoon phase, during which the weight flew off and each workout felt like a high, I entered into the "holy crap! Am I going to have to work this hard for the rest of my life?" Followed by the "I think I would rather be fat" mindset. Thankfully, I pushed through and now I'm in the "finally seeing positive results and loving the way exercise makes me feel" phase. So back to the topic of childhood obesity and vision casting. (I apparently got distracted by the over-usuage of ...

It's been a busy week here at our house. After a fun weekend with two wonderful friends, and a short week, we drove to Georgia to visit my family and celebrate the birthdays of two very special people - my sister Amy and my niece Anna. The kids loved playing at Grandma's house. Lucas enjoys sitting on the swing beside his Grandpa Paul. At four years old, he already knows how to sit and "shoot the breeze" with Paw-Paul. Sweet pea Ava is in the process of cutting 4 molars at the same time!!! Poor baby girl! But she had a blast watching Grandma's cats! I worked hard on getting her to say "cat" instead of her favorite word "dog" and she caught on! She also said a word for banana this weekend, "na-na". Too cute :) I'm truly loving this age for both kids. Lucas is goofy, imaginative and much less argumentative. I truly believe the hard work Matt and I invested in teaching Lucas to submit to our authority is finally paying off! Praise Je...

After (finally) finding some type of consistency on my blog, I've been suspiciously quiet for many days. Mainly because I have nothing to write about. If you are one of my faithful few who still check back, thank you for not giving up on me. It's true though; sometimes our lives are more about the routine (eating, sleeping, playing, cleaning) then about anything exciting. And that's a good thing, I think. While I do enjoy the pressure of anticipating a big event or upcoming activities, I know you have to have some "normal" in between time or you turn into a stressed out, sometimes irritable, exhausted, mess who can't focus on a single task because you're trying to accomplish a million things at one time. I'm sure none of you ever get that way, but I sure do! But I do have a topic which I would like to discuss on this fine, labor day morning. Whining . And this isn't really a discussion, but more of a cry for help. But not in a whiny-way, of course....

Naturally, on a day when I'm already feeling a little sappy because my baby is growing up so quickly, Lucas picks " Love You Forever " for us to read before nap time! The little stinker knows it makes me cry every time! I think he picks it on purpose! I just can't read the part about the Mama dying and the son rocking her and then his baby without choking up. It's just too much for my emotions. Although, I have to say, I think that Mama was a little too attached. You don't drive over to your grown son's house in the middle of the night to rock him in his sleep. That's a little weird. I pretty sure his wife wasn't too thrilled.