The Joys of Home Ownership

New windows all over the house = $4,000

New back sliding glass door (included in the price of new windows, above)

Trees trimmed so they aren't over power lines = $300

Rest of tree trimmed that you will save up for later = $800

New roof = $4,000 do-it-yourself

Owning your own home = PRICELESS (?!)

SmartSeat Chair Protector Review

Dang, I'm such a stage mom and stage wife! I love including pictures of my family with items that are up for review by moi. Also, the kids usually are dying to open the packages that come, so I just grab la camera and click away while they pose! Someday they will probably ask me for a kickback, but for now they are FREE MODELS!

Moving on ...

Here is Sam holding our latest acquisition: SmartSeat Chair Protectors. Allow me to explain ...

Okay, so we used to go to my mom's house for the weekend or longer when Aron was out of town a lot. Or lately we go for the whole day. Sometimes we go to my dad's house for the whole day. They each have nice chairs. I believe Sam usually picks the WHITE FABRIC one to sit in at my dad's house and inevitably we are having something saucy like pizza. My mom has nice OLD FABRIC chairs.

We used to have to put a towel down on the chair or else do heavy scrubbing post-meal. But now, thanks to this baby ...

... I can just fold it up and Velcro it to any seat that we don't want to ruin. We don't use this at our house because we have wooden chairs and they are trashable, but when we go somewhere where people have nice things we whip it out. It's Scotch-guarded, too! We spilled a drink on the seat protector and it beaded up! When we were done, we undid the seat protector, took it home and washed it. (Not really; we forgot it at my mom's house, but that's what we SHOULD have done and is probably what YOU will do!).

This cool product comes in 4 colors and can be purchased here.

I did not get paid to write this review.

Mr. Kerrie's Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe!!!!!

So you think you're ready to make spaghetti sauce, huh? In case you missed it, here's the post where I shared how I process tomatoes so they'll be all frozen and ready to make sauce when you are ready.

Before I give you the recipe, let me show you the process of making the sauce. First, make sure your commercial freezer door was somehow gets left open just a smidge so your frozen processed tomatoes will be almost perfectly thawed for you when you are ready. Seriously, though, thaw the frozen tomatoes that you already have processed (skinned, cored, quartered). Below is my hubs dumping out the tomatoes (unspackled walls in the background; I'll get around to it; get off my back already!). Note the big stockpot, even though the recipe I give you will be for if you just use a one-gallon bag of tomatoes. He probably quadrupled his recipe for each batch.

Your tomatoes will be gorgeous in the pot and ready to make sauce for you to enjoy. Tomatoes are all about making you happy.

Here's my man chopping up herbs from our herb pots on our deck. You have my permission to use store-bought. Just don't come raid my herb pots ... or try to steal my man who can cook.

Thickening on the stove, a ninety-seven 2-day process.

1 gallon processed tomatoes (16 cups, 4 quarts)
1 T rosemary, fresh, chopped
1 small red onion chopped
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1 bulb fresh garlic, chopped  (or if you are like me, just use 1 T minced from a jar)
1/4 cup chopped basil
1 T fresh oregano, chopped
1 T dried and chopped thyme
3 bay leaves
1 T dry marjoram
1 T salt to taste

Start all of the above boiling in a stock pot.

Reduce heat to a simmer. It will take hours for this to reduce and thicken ... 4 hours or more with you stirring every 10 minutes.

If you get annoyed by this lengthy process, toss in some tomato paste to desired thickness whenever you are ready to throw in the towel. [! Don't really put a towel into the sauce, please!!!!!]

Once it's as thick as you want it and tastes how you like it (might need more salt, a little sugar, more garlic if you love it a lot), keep it hot then either eat it up yum or CAN IT. No, I am not telling you to personally can it, like to shut up. I am saying get out your canning jars and lids and screw-tops and your big boiler thingie and go to town. This is the part where I get off because I'm not the canning expert in my family.

Thankful Thursday with Linky!: Tbox To-Go Tampon Holder

I like to involve my husband in the review process whenever I can, especially when feminine products are involved. Right about now you should be thinking something along the lines of, "Her poor father, the dad to an only child and a girl at that." or "Her poor husband." while shaking your head. P.S. Don't look at my unspackled walls. I am not proud of my brand of lazy.

How do you store your tampons in your diaper bag or purse or backpack? Do you just toss them in and the wrapper comes apart and the tampon gets all dirty and then you throw it away? Do you just stuff them in your bag and then can't find one when you need one? Do they fall out at a bad time? Does your kid get one out in the middle of church and wave it around before you can stop him?

The Tbox To-Go tampon holder is genius, and I wish it had been around when I was a teenager. Heck, it's cool for me now, and I'm 41 years old. Not only do you not have to worry about any of the above, but it also has a pill box attached to the end for you to put your Advil in! The Tbox holds up to 3 tampons, and they are protected. And nobody can see what's in there. And your kids can't get it open very easily. Trust me, I did the quality control test at my house.

The Tbox comes in three different colors and can be purchased here for only $14.99 (free shipping on two or more). They can be found here on Facebook.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Link up your reviews/giveaways here!

Keeping Kids Busy/Homeschool Science/Art/Geology

There are many FREE ways to keep kids occupied, but why not go to Michael's and blow a bunch of money on, say, a lip balm making kit or on a paleontologist kit? Then why not hit a garage sale and buy a bunch of cheap Easter egg kits and color Easter eggs in August? And then why not just call it art and science and geology?