Sunday Dinner!

Well, I don't know how you do it at your house but Sunday Dinner at the Triple P is serious!  We get out of church around noon and since we live just a few blocks from church, we can get home and get a jump start on this all important meal.  Everyone races in the door, takes off their Sunday best and changes into "comfy clothes".  We are usually sitting down to eat by around 1:00 but this particular meal took a little longer...but tasted that much better!  There are a few Sundays we have leftovers, we may meet my mother at a restaurant or like last Sunday, we may join some friends at a local place here in our tiny town only to see most of our congregation there, too! 

But today...today was the PERFECT Sunday Dinner!  We even had the Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder album, "The History of the Future" as our Sunday Dinner soundtrack!  Every meal at the Triple P has music to accompany the yumminess...

 We had fried chicken (my husband is the chicken fryer in our house), cracker salad, fried okra, mashed potatoes, rolls that had been rising since 8:00 this morning, cucumber and onion salad and of course, sweet tea!



I know you want to lick your computer screen right now...

Oh, and did I mention strawberry shortcake for dessert?

Sweet Tea...sweet nectar from heaven!

Truly, the only beverage that is a necessity for me is sweet tea.  My momma made it daily when I was a child and it went with EVERY meal...even PB&Js at lunch time!  I even remember my younger brothers having sweet tea in their bottles.  My cousin, Martine makes great sweet tea which I am sure she learned from her mother who is actually the one who taught my own momma the secrets to the perfect pitcher!  There are only a handful of places that make sweet tea to my standards.  Cracker Barrel has an almost perfect ratio of sugar to tea and Chick-fil-a makes a mean sweet tea, as well.  Then there is the ultimate sweet tea to which I aspire.  It is found at a BBQ joint in Decatur, Alabama called "Big Bob Gibson's".  When my family and I travel to Alabama from here in Oklahoma to see my cousins, we make sure the trip includes at least one giant glass of their sweet tea!  Now, I keep up the tradition of serving the house wine of the south here at the Triple P.  I often have friends ask how I prepare it so I thought I would give a little tutorial.

First, you need to bring about 6 cups of water to a rolling boil.  Once the water is boiling, add 4 FAMILY SIZE tea bags to the water and continue to boil for 1 full minute.

Once the minute is up, remove the pot from the heat and put a lid on it.  Keep it covered for a full ten minutes.

 Now comes the star of the show!  The S-U-G-A-R!  Add between a cup to a cup and half to your tea pitcher.  Once the timer goes off (you used a timer, didn't you???) pour the tea into the pitcher on top of the sugar, sans tea bags.  This will melt all the sugar.  This is the most important process in making perfect sweet tea.  Once you pour the sugar in, begin stirring to make sure all the sugar gets dissolved. 

After the sugar is all good and melted, fill your pitcher with water while constantly stirring.

Now you are ready to pour your sweet nectar from heaven into one of your favorite cups as I have done.  Enjoy your sweet tea, oh yes and ROLL TIDE!

Craft Lately???

Been busy playing with my new Cricut and may have gone a little nuts with the vinyl.  Had some ideas from blogland that I wanted to try.  First, I gave my front door a little address treatment!

Found this pretty frame at Hobby Lobby and thought it would be great in the master bath.  I put some coordinating fabric behind the glass to match our shower curtain and then did a little Cricut love with our anniversary date!

This is not a Cricut craft but one I had been waiting for the time to do.  Got an unfinished wood frame from Hobby Lobby and painted it blue,  I sanded it and then stained it.  I used burlap for the background and then covered a chipboard "P" with buttons and hot glued it to the burlap.  I really wish I would have painted the chipboard first.  I wasn't thinking of how much the chipboard would actually show.  I then added a tag holder found on the scrapbook aisle at Hobby Lobby and distressed a little piece of paper and wrote our last name inside.  I really love this!



 This is really my favorite project lately!!!!  I used my Cricut to cut some black vinyl letters for the kids' bathroom.  I love that the cartridge I have has a few fun images like this splash of water.  It really makes the bathroom look more kid friendly!

Window + Chalkbaord Paint = LOVE!!!

My friend and hair girl, Mandy had the inside track on some old windows.  Not only does she do fabulous hair, but her decorating style rocks!  After seeing what she did with a window by turning it into a dry erase board, she brought a few over to the Triple P for me to play with.  Well, I got out my chalkboard paint and got busy!  First, I decided to hang it sideways so I could use it as two divided lists.  My husband removed the hardware and put it on the "bottom" to hold a piece of chalk.  My mommy bought me a Cricut Create as an early birthday gift and I couldn't wait to add some vinyl lettering to this masterpiece!  The left side is my daily "To Do" list...

The right side has our lunch and snack menu for homeschool!

I even used my Cricut to make a little bunting for the bottom for the Triple P!  Can't go wrong with the combination of chalkboard paint and a Cricut!!!

***Linking up to Met Monday at www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com

I got a new job...well, TWO new jobs!!!

So, I got two new jobs that I start on August 8th!  I am really excited and really nervous.  I've been a stay at home mom for the past 8 years.  This is going to be an adjustment.  What are these new jobs?  Glad you asked!  I am going to be teaching kindergarten and 2nd grade...at my house...to my babies.


We have decided to surrender to homeschooling.  Why?  there are many reasons...some selfish.  We really love our public school here.  It is one of the top in the state.  We bought our first home here because we knew one day we would have kids and we knew the schools here were top notch.  My mini-belle went through Pre-K, Kindergarten and 1st grade there and we had nothing but wonderful experiences.  My little cowboy just completed half day Pre-K and truly thrived.  I can't brag enough about our schools here.  However, I hate being a slave to the school schedule.  I hate having to schedule family time around fall break and spring break.  Those are times my husband will never be able to take off of work.  Then there is Christmas break.  My husband's busiest time at work is during that same time so he doesn't get the benefit of having the kids home from school.  And of course, there is summer.  The time that EVERY family in America is traveling and invading our favorite vacation spots.  We would rather take the kids on a road trip in the cooler months...see the foliage...wear a sweater...not be OVERCROWDED!!! 

So there is the scheduling thing but there is more to it.  I truly begged God for these babies.  I am talking about lying face down on my living room floor sobbing and praying and begging to be a mother.  Our mini-belle is an IVF baby and our cowboy is a surprise to even the doctors.  How can I send those babies to school and let someone else who doesn't love them half as much as I do spend 6 hours a day with them 5 days a week?  Senseless! 

But the main reason for this HUGE transition is the Lord.  I really felt the urging to homeschooling a year ago.  My husband...not so much.  This was not a decision I could have made without his leadership.  I had to let it go until he was just as sure.  God moved in both of our hearts and after much prayer and seeking wisdom from fellow homeschoolers and friends, we made the decision in May to take control of the education of our children.  Then...the pressure started...

I attended a homeschool conference and began researching curriculum.  If I had a dollar for every hour I spent online comparing prices and courses and reading reviews!  There were lots of trips to Christian bookstores.  I spent the last days of my kids being in public school organizing closets and cabinets and making room for all that comes with a kindergartner and 2nd grader.  We had to tell our families who are still unsure about it all.  We have researched co-ops and support groups and tried to ease the fears of our own parents who sent us both to public school and see no point in our choice when we live in one of the premier school districts in our state.

All that said, God has done amazing things in confirming our decision.  We have received newsletters and email daily devotions for homeschool parents that serve to further our resolve as well as point out more positive aspects of being a homeschool family that we never even thought of.  The Lord has eased any fears we had about our decision and given us such peace about the journey ahead.

Some have asked if we think it is a sin to send kids to public school.  Absolutely not!  We do not believe God has called every family to do this.  However, it would be a sin for US not to do it because God has clearly asked this of our family.  If we chose not to, we would be in complete disobedience.

The truth is, I am already a little jealous of some of my friends.  They are planning things for the first week of school that I will not be able to participate in.  They are so excited to have their days free since their children will be in school.  They can eat lunch together, go shopping and work on projects at home UNINTERRUPTED!  Yes, I am very jealous.  But, my babies will have Jesus in every lesson thanks to the curriculum we have chosen.  We can go to the zoo or the science museum anytime we want to.  If the weather is exceptionally beautiful, we can go ride bikes.  We have so much fun ahead of us!  What a blessing!