Lost Domain Name and Other News

Well friends, it's been a while! I didn't check my blog email for months and the result is that I didn't see the email telling me my credit card on file was expired so my domain name would not be renewed. If I want to renew it now they are asking for lots of money so I'm not going to do it. In the mean time, please note that the address for this blog is now Family Life and Home blogspot.com. That is https://familylifeandhome.blogspot.com/ . 

Papa and I 

Click 'n Dig Item Finder: A Review

Disclosure: I received free of charge one Model F6 of the Click 'n Dig for review purposes. Opinions are completely my own. 

Hold the shopping! You will want to see this before you buy another item on your Christmas list. You know someone who really needs this, will love it, and that person may be you! I'm talking about Click 'n Dig a Smart RF Item Finder. What's that? Well you know how you can't find the remote or your late getting out the door and can't find your keys? Well that won't be a problem anymore with this sweet gadget!

Revenge of the Cube Dweller; A Review

Disclosure: I received a free copy of Revenge Of The Cube Dweller for review purposes. Opinions are my own. The Amazon link is an Affiliate link.

I just finished reading Revenge Of The Cube Dweller by Joanne Fox Phillips. I really liked it. The main character, Tanzie Lewis, is a 50 something woman trying to get her life back on track. I found Tanzie to be very fun; shes creative and quick on her feet. She finds herself doing somethings shes never dream shes could or would do, be then realizes shes tapped into a new talent and perhaps a new life direction. 

I don't think we've seen the last of Tanzie and I look forward to her new adventures. This book received great reviews on Amazon and would be a great gift.

How to Bend & Shape PVC Pipe

The man of the house has been wanting to expand his work shop area for some time. I am happy to have him do it because the small enclosure he uses as a shop really is too small to hold all his tools. When ever he has a project he needs to pull everything out onto the patio to make room for working. Since he only has scraps of time, his "stuff" lives on the patio indefinitely till he finishes his project and DRIVES ME CRAZY!  annoys me. 

But there has been something preventing him from expanding the shop; me.....uh I mean a water faucet; the only one available to the back yard. It was all the way in the far back corner and required me to pick my way over and through his stuff, squeeze by some over grown oleanders to get to it all the while looking out for scorpions and black widows with each step back there!  The faucet first, then the shop I insisted. 

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

I've been sitting on this news for a while..........

Yay! Need I say more?! 




Copyright © Family Home and Life 2010-2014 All Rights Reserved

Who Am I Going To Be Today?

I haven't written a post like this in a long time. I hope you will read this in it's entirety; thanks!  Oh and FYI - I have chosen to alter my photos as I have to discourage unauthorized reuse of pics of my kids :)

I can say with certainty that where ever you are right now and with whatever is going on in your life, it will change! It won't always be like this. Try to see the bigger picture of your days and know that it all passes, usually too quickly! 

Save Time Doing Laundry, My Version

Laundry can be quite boring so hang with me here ok? How many times do you have to go around to different rooms in your house putting clean laundry away? How many times in a week do you open a set of drawers to stash underwear and socks? How many times have you re-folded clothing because it didn't get put away, or re-washed something because it was too wrinkled from not being folded and put away? Or, re-washed a whole load because you forgot to put it in the dryer?

Oh, you haven't counted? Well, saving time and effort is something I take seriously, so I have counted ;o)  No just kidding, I don't have an actual number but being aware of how I do things around the house and then working on stream lining the process gives me more time to do things I want to do like write this! 

Make a Better PB & J Sandwich

My mother always made the best Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches. She always used Grape Jam not jelly because it is fruitier. She had an usual technique to make them that I never thought to ask her about; she would mix the peanut butter with the jam in a bowl before spreading it thickly onto bread. 

Simple Kitchen Tips

Air is an enemy to cheese. Keep cheeses wrapped in plastic tightly to prevent mold and drying out. Squeeze as much air as possible out of those resealable bags shredded cheese comes in.  Blocks of cheese that will be used for grating or shredding keeps well in the freezer, and free of mold. Frozen cheese tends to crumble and won't slice as well.

The Giveaway Winner's Are......!

My goodness March was a busy month! Thank you to everyone who stopped by to help me celebrate! I am very thankful to my guest posters, and so thankful to those who sponsored giveaways! I would love it if you would stop by their places and leave a comment to say hi. 

I am once again changing things up and have plans for FH&L coming soon! I hope you will continue to stop by to see all the new and fun things going on. Thank you so much for reading me and becoming a part of my online family and friends! 

Before I announce the winners I want to thank my guest.

Maya Was Grumpy & a Giveaway!

Going from Grumps to Giggles!

I have for you today a review for a wonderful children's book. It is a delightful read and has beautiful fun imaginative art work. Oh my I am taken with this book! Maya reminds me of one of my grand daughters, wild and crazy hair and all! I'm thinking I should give this book to her if I can stand to part with it. The illustrations alone are amazing, the story line wonderful! I think I already said that :) And there's a seasoned Gramma in this book that knows just how to turn around a grumpy girl who got up on the wrong side of the bed. 

Meadowfly Farm & a Giveaway!

Exceptional Products Through Compassionate Farming

Please welcome Che, writer of Meadowfly Farms blog and a maker of wonderful goat milk soap. I love goat milk soap; in fact, it is the only soap I use on myself. Having many different types of allergies along with Fibromyalgia, I have to always be careful about skin and beauty products. I have been using goat milk soap exclusively for about 10 years and I have always loved it! It is a great product I promise you! Please stop by Meadowfly Farms and look at the lovely soaps. There is nothing cuter than a baby goat either I might add! You will find lots of photos her babies there too. At the end of this post I will tell you how you can enter this giveaway. Enjoy!

I founded Meadowfly Farm in 2009 with the intent of creating a compassionate environment for pets and farm animals as well as people. I decided to start making goat milk soap for family and friends who are particularly sensitive to fragrance oils or other chemicals used in mainstream soaps. My family and friends liked the soap so much that I started Goat Milk Soap by Meadowfly Farm in 2012 and began to sell my soaps. 

Healthier Hotdogs

Cooking hot dogs in a pot of water on the stove top is probably the healthiest way to cook them; if you can use healthy and hot dog in the same sentence that is. The process of cooking the dogs in water removes some of the fat and sodium while they cook.  If we are not throwing some on the grill for a gathering of friends and family, most of us here in the USA probably prefer to cook only the needed amount in the microwave when our little ones want lunch.

Celebrating What I've Learned

Today I want to give a short run down on some things I have learned about blogging this last year but first......welcome to March! Yay! Oh, why am I so happy about March? Well those of you who know me and read this blog know that last month was terrible - so happy to see it behind me. And best of all....March is my blog anniversary month! I can't believe it has been two years since I first began. (2 1/2 really, you will have to read my about me page to understand that) This last year, I really stepped it up by posting better content on a regular basis, and started two link parties...Wow Us Wednesday and Grandparent's Say It Saturday. 

Clean Inside my Dishwasher?

Ok, I'm not proud to tell you about my dishwasher issues but I love you guys and just in case this helps anyone with the same troubles, it will be worth it. I noticed my dishes were not getting as clean as they use to but I tend to over load it most of the time so I cut back a bit on piling it in there and my problems still continued, and got worse. There were little tiny pieces of food almost like cornmeal stuck on the insides and sometimes the outsides of everything on the top rack.(By the way, do you know how to properly load a dishwasher so everything gets cleaned as it should?)
I mentioned it to the man of the house a few times but he gave me no response, or help (which is what I was looking for) about what to do. I started thinking we would be calling in a repair man or buying a new dishwasher soon. Then I remembered about cleaning the filter on my vac, another post for another day, and how that one thing fixed my vacuum cleaner so that six years later I'm still using it. 

So, with the dishwasher empty I removed the lower rack and took a look at the bottom of my dishwasher. I noticed that while the insides are stainless steel there was a lot of white mineral build up in there that should not be there. I use vinegar instead of a rinse agent so this surprised me. Most people will tell you that at this point you should have your dishwasher unplugged and I totally agree with them! I started fiddling around with some of the removable plastic parts in the bottom and sure enough I found a filter. I suggest you photo everything you remove or take apart so you can remember how it goes back together. Also be very careful as there can be tiny pieces of broken glass that you didn't know were there. Go carefully here. 

Ahem....were was I..... oh, well I found the filter and OH MY GOSH! Look at it! It was so clogged with mineral deposits hard as rocks that water was not penetrated it at all. Bingo, I had found the problem. I was quit pleased with myself at this point and poured a bowlful of white vinegar to soak the filter in before I began to scrub and scrub.....well it turned into an all day process. I would scrub then soak, wait then repeat. I gave up at one point and got online to order a new one but I couldn't find a new one to order so I returned to the soaking, scrubbing routine. I used a butter knife to scrape it and that helped. I was worried I would break the thing then be in real trouble! 

After I had it as clean as I could get it, I put it back together (this is were some pics would have been handy) then cleaned out the holes in the spray arms (the things that spin around) while I was at it. Do you do this on occasion? You should, again beware of small pieces of glass stuck in there and I suggest you do not use your fingers for this job. How about cleaning around the outside edges were the rubber gasket meets the sides? All of this should be cleaned on occasion.  Rather than give you a whole long tutorial on how to clean and maintain your dishwasher since I AM NOT an expert but a home maker, I have included a couple of links for you that tell you how. 
My dishwasher is back to working like it did when it was brand new, didn't cost me a dime, did it my self too! Woo Hoo! You may find your dishwashers manual online if you have a model # and brand. A manual may help you with finding and cleaning your dish washers filter and other routine maintenance to keep it working at it's best.
How to clean and maintain your dishwasher links below. wikiHow HubPages YouTube (cleaning the filter) You Tube (how to load dishwasher) I link at these parties. 
Update: I now use one tablespoon of citric acid every few weeks to keep my dishwasher in good shape. All the cloudy water deposits are done on the stainless steel and the filters stay in good shape. Use it in an empty dishwasher as it may cause pitting on some dishes. Below are a couple of links for citric acid through Amazon. Yes, it is an affiliate link and I may make a small commission if you purchase through that link. Thank you for supporting this blog. 


I have had a lot of content theft lately. If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

A Green Alternative Cleaner

A couple of weeks back one of the kids came down with a virus and in an attempt to not spread it around I decided to disinfect my house before the next group of kids arrived. I was on the phone with my daughter and told her I was about to get the bleach out and start cleaning. She had a better suggestion; Hydrogen Peroxide.

I have used Peroxide a bit but I had not thought to use it as a household cleaner. I was intrigued and decided to do a little research. It appears that Hydrogen Peroxide is indeed a good alternative to bleach for disinfecting your home, comes in different strengths, and there is even a food grade. Two uses for it surprised me; using it as a vegetable and fruit cleaner (diluted with water of course), and that it kills mold.

I mixed one part Peroxide to about three parts water in a spray bottle, and then sprayed that solution onto a cleaning cloth and went to town on my house. I wiped door knobs and door frames, handles, cabinet fronts, piano keys, bathroom fixtures, and the bigger toys. The toys that were small enough and water proof I put in a large water proof tub and added Peroxide and water and allowed those toys to soak a while.

I must say I was happy to have an alternative to bleach that is not so dangerous to use, and apparently, Peroxide is considered a Green cleaner to as it won’t hurt the environment. I do want to caution you though, because Peroxide can also be dangerous and harmful, and should not be used to clean some things; I invite you to try it but only after you researched on your own about its dangers and many uses. Here is a site I found most helpful and with a lot of good information.

Do you use Peroxide to clean with? 

I link at these parties.

I have had a lot of content theft lately. If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

How to Lose Weight in 3 Easy Steps

This post is about six months overdue but I still thought it relevant. About a year and a half ago my doctor pointed out to me yet again, that if I didn’t lose some weight I would have to start taking blood pressure meds. I decided I’d rather lose the extra weight.

Now I’ve tried to lose that extra weight many many times and it was just too hard to do. I’d lose a few pounds and they would come back again. I think that really I was just lying to myself about how much I ate and how much exercise I did or didn’t do. In other words, I always made excuses for my failure. I have a thyroid problem, I’m on HRT’s too, and that makes for a combo that seems to cause the weight to pile on and not want to come of.  

This time I prepared by thinking about what tripped me up and made a plan.  Then I stuck with my plan and just about a year to the date, a birthday gift to myself, I lost 30 pounds! I was so proud of myself! I want to tell you how I did it and there is a trick or two that really helps.

Problem  #1. I am not good at being hungry; I like to eat most anytime of the day.  I needed to be able to eat when I wanted to so I needed the right things available to eat when I was hungry.

Solution #1; eat when I feel like it.

Problem #2.  The eating plan needed to be foods easy to prepare that I could keep stocked up on. Something I could grab and go when I needed lunch or a snack to take with me.

Solution #2; shop ahead for the right foods and keep them on hand.

Problem #3. I needed a way to bring movement and exercise into my whole day not just a portion of it.

I decided I would be the most successful by eating vegetables and cutting out high calorie snacks. Vegetables are usually low calorie foods without all the added stuff we put on them.  Not only are vegetables full of nutrients they also have a lot of fiber so I felt full after eating. Frozen veggies are easy to prepare and easy to store. I began to eat lots of vegetables, snacks were veggies, and each meal I ate a half portion of whatever I cooked for the man of the house but filled up on a cup or so of veggies first. I would season the veggies different ways so I had lots of variety.

Solution #3; The diet was working out great and after about a week I began to stop craving all the junk and ice cream I had eaten before. (After I began to add movement and exercise to the diet I was able to go off the diet completely.) The adding more movement and exercise into everyday was also a snap for me.

You see I have this wonderful team that comes to my house several times a week. No, I don’t even have to leave home for my workout. They make sure I am up and moving at all times! I rarely get a break with these two. And the really great part is that I hardly notice (until they go home that is) that I have been exercising my butt off , as they are so much fun.

Ladies and gentleman, meet my workout team!

Get yourself a pair of workout partners like this and you will be up off that couch in no time flat running around the house just like me trying to keep up. I PROMISE!

Can’t get two? One will work but it may take longer.

I say go for a team, two or even three and get that body moving!

The pounds will melt off and before long you can toss that diet right out the window.

You will be running around so much you will be able to eat anything you want and still not gain it back.

Well, that was easy wasn't it? Now I've had some fun here but I really did lose 30 pounds just like I said, and I did it by eat my veggies and yes, working out with my team.

If you are reading this post anywhere else but at Family Home and Life then it was used without permission! Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

Using My Crockpot

Here is one of my all-time favorite ways to save time and energy in the kitchen: using crock pot liners or roasting bags in my crock pot.

I tell you what, I do not like to wash dishes, especial large pots or pans or crock pots that require a lot of scrubbing. Ick! And ouch! It hurts my fingers and hands to scrub. So, I use liners for my crock pot and there is nothing to scrub. Did you know that using a crock pot will save energy too? Yes it’s one of the most economical ways to cook. And who doesn’t like coming home to the aroma of a delicious meal at the end of the day.

I have seen several blogs that are now posting about making your own freezer crock pot meals. Making my own freezer crock pot meal is something I would have to do because I can’t really eat anything that has been processed at all. Something I have wanted to try for a while is preparing several crock pot meals and freezing them in a crock pot liner that is then placed in a Ziploc bag, so all I would have to do it take it from the freezer and Ziploc and place it in the crock pot. I don’t know why I haven’t tried that yet. It seems like it would be a good idea. I suppose you would have to make sure the meal would fit into the crock pot in its frozen state so I would need to be careful about the size and shape it froze in to.

At clean up time, all I would need to do is remove the liner and I would be done! Woo hoo! I have used oven roasting bags in my crock pot too. I closed it up with the raw food inside just as if I was putting it in the oven but put it in my crock pot instead.  

Once, I cooked a pork roast in the crock pot using a roasting bag, closed it up according to the directions, and used a meat thermometer positioned so I could read it through the closed bag and crock pot lid.  I have found that Wal-Mart is about the cheapest place to buy them at less than half of what my favorite grocery charges. With a coupon you would only be spending pennies per use. You will save more money because you won’t be getting take out with a meal waiting for you at home.

Wow that sounded like a commercial and it was not; I did not receive any sort of compensation for writing this.  I only hope it helps you out in the kitchen as much as it has me. Have you ever used a crock pot liner to freeze a meal in then placed it still frozen in the crock pot? How did it turn out?

***Quiz.....did you notice that I used the words...'crock pot' a lot? I surely did! Can you count how many times? The answer will follow in the comments here on Friday. Just having some fun!

If you are reading this any other place than Family Home and Life then this post was used without permission. Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

For Every Drop of Blood...Veterans Memorial

I was driving through an area of the valley that I don’t usually have reason to be in. I saw these beautifully sculptured trees and had to stop to see what it was about.

I copied this from glendaleaz.com/interactiveArtTour:

For Every Drop of Blood—For Every Life Devoted Veterans Memorial
Joe Tyler
Bronze, copper, steel, sandstone and concrete
Completed: 2001

"This artwork includes five welded steel trees, one for each branch of the armed services. The intertwined limbs of each sculpted tree are symbolic of the combined efforts of the Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard in the defense of the United States. The leaves in the sculpted canopies represent the thousands of Veterans who have served, are currently serving and will serve in the Armed Forces. In the center is an obelisk featuring a depiction of the battleship silver service pattern commissioned for the USS Arizona and actual salvaged pieces from the USS Arizona.
Joe Tyler currently lives and works in Arizona. He has successfully completed public art projects for several Valley cities, including Tempe, Scottsdale, Mesa and Phoenix. The City of Glendale gratefully acknowledges the Glendale Veterans Memorial Association and Bob Manzetti (donator of USS Arizona salvaged pieces) for their help in the creation of the Veterans Memorial."

 It is located on the lawn in front of the Glendale Public Library at 5959 W. Brown St., Glendale, AZ 85302. The trees must be at least 15 feet tall.

The plaque gives the history of the events of the attack on Pearl Harbor and of USS Arizona; a portion of the plaque reads:

"The city of Glendale has acquired historical artifacts that were salvaged from the USS Arizona and the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. The rusted metal pieces are from a portion of the potato locker in the ship’s galley. The steel rings were cut from the USS Arizona Memorial Flagpole. These artifacts serve as a silent sentinel, paying homage to those brave men and women who gave their lives for the defense of this great nation."

At the bottom it says:

"In memory of the crew of the USS Arizona (BB-39). This is a Tribute to all Past, Present, and Future Veterans."

There are also monuments for each branch of military service circling the center.  

While the trees appear to have copper leaves, I believe they are painted  with copper color paint.

There are lights in the trees that look like flowers.

Amazing details on the trunks and vines.

The leaves create beautiful patterns on the concrete and the benches.

I wanted to share this with you because I love stuff like this. Adding the salvaged pieces to the memorial were the perfect touch.

Copyright© Family Home and Life 2012 All Rights Reserved

Versatile Blogger Award

Before I get to the award part, I want to tell you about something that I'm having a hard time with; I've been putting off telling you this for a few months actually. I have fybromyalgia and it makes daily living difficult on many levels. I try not to let it have control of my life but I do need to juggle a lot of different things every day. I have had to slow down a bit. It took two trips to the ER, one after passing out while getting my hair cut, to get me to attmit I really had to make a few changes.

We  had all kinds of test run waited several months and redid it all just to make sure. After about a year and a half I guess I am now convinced; I just couldn't believe that I was only tired and exhausted. Everything pointed to nothing more than an over worked Grandmother with fybromyalgia who wants it all and who doesn't know how to rest and say no. I started by cutting down on some work hours, but that wasn't enough. I really did need to slow down even more.

Ok, I get it now. So, as sad as it has made me, I have stopped providing childcare to the extra sweet little ones that I have claimed as my own in addition to my grandkids. My house has not been as full of noisey happy voices, and I am very sadden by this! I still claim the right to be called Gramma by them though and they are still on my holiday gift lists. I do see them often because our family are all intertwined. I have missed adding their pictures on my blog posts along with the other kids.

If I don't stop going on about that I will cry so on with the award. Last week, I got a surprise from Jamie over at Love Bakes Good Cakes, telling me she was passing the Versatile Blogger Award onto me! Wow can you believe it?! I started this blog as a hobby and was so excited when I noticed a few people reading me; and now I have new internet friends all over the place! Isn't the web wonderful? Jamie has become a linker here at Wow Us Wednesday and she has a very nice blog. I would give this award to her if she hadn't aready received it :) Thank you Jamie for awarding me with the Versatile Blogger award!

Now the rules for this award are:

1. Thank the Blogger who nominated you.

2. Include a link to their site.

3. Include the award image in your post.

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself.

5. Nominate 15 other Bloggers for the award.

6. When nominating, include a link to their site.

7. Let other Bloggers know they have been nominated.

 Here are my random facts:

1. I have a particular fondness for bunny rabbits and I only have a rare teddy bear around for the kids to play with; all other stuffed toys are rabbits.
2. I have a lot of food allergys, chocolate is one of them but I just have to have a Hershey bar now and then.
3. I always wear shoes, even if it's just flip flops. My feet hurt if I don't.
4. I am a bit of an artist, oil painting is my specialty though I do a little of everything.
5. Though my natural hair color is burnette, I should have been a redhead :) I would be now if I wasn't allergic to hair dye :(
6. I grew up thinking I could do anything if I really put my mind to it and only found out recently that that it is just not true. I do, in fact have many limitations.
7. Though I may seem out going here on my blog, I am actually an introvert who loves to stay home and can go for days without leaving the house if I don't have to.

The hardest part was picking the bloggers I would give the award to; it wasn't easy but here are my picks. Please stop by and check them out.

1. Frugal and Thankful
2. Living Life Intentionally
3. Love andLaundry
4. Jellibean Journals
5. twelve-O-eight
6. The Thriftiness Miss
7. Bear Rabbit Bear Crafts
8. Our Pinteresting Family
9. Rosie Sweet Home
10. Headant
11. Babblings and More
12. a Short History of Now
13. Schneider Peeps
14. Jellyfish Jelly
15. Nifty Thrifty Things

Thanks again Jamie!