1. Bleach
This may seem like a funny favorite, but hear me out…my kindergartener’s school uniform includes a white polo. The older two boys are in Tae Kwon Do in which they wear bright white ‘uniforms’ (aka cool pjs). I’ve found myself recently pulling out good ole bleach to help me manage boys and white clothing!
In addition, my youngest son was stung by a bee last weekend and my sister-in-law told us to put some bleach in some water and soak his finger in it. Kachow! it worked! amazing!
Here is a link to more amazing ways to use bleach: Bleach Uses
2. Mini-grocery carts
This week’s grocery trip I brought along my little helper (a little errand before his birthday date). He and I were both thrilled when we saw that our Kroger had just added mini-carts to the cart choices. Of course I ended up buying things that weren’t on the list (note the twizzlers, candy corn and matchbox car). But he was actually very helpful and stayed right with me. precious memory!
3. Hints of Fall
The impulse purchase of the $1 bag of candy corn combined with the MUCH cooler temps this week inspired me to pull out my yummy pumpkin scented candle…just the beginning of Fall, my favorite time of year!
4. Taco Soup
This is my mother-in-law’s recipe. What’s great about it is that you could keep all the ingredients (except the ground meat) in your pantry for a “last minute” meal.
Get a pkg of ground meat (you could try ground turkey) and brown it. I browned the meat in the large pot and then drained out the fat. Then I added all the other ingredients:
- 2 cans diced tomatoes (make sure they are not italian flavored!)
- 2 cans tomato sauce (the little cans)
- 2 cans corn
- 1-2 cans kidney beans (I’m not a huge bean fan, so i use 1 can)
- 2 pkgs of taco seasoning mix
Heat the soup on the stove to the desired temperature.
You can serve with shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips etc. I also made a corn casserole as a side. You could make cornbread.
This makes A LOT of soup (Bruce and I ate it for 4 different meals). One meal I made a bed of lettuce, put a little serving of the soup (draining out the liquid) on top and added cheese and crushed tortilla chips…delicious taco salad!
*unless your kids like soup and/or spicy food they may not eat this dinner, but do they really eat that much dinner anyway?
5. Binocular “I spy”
This week we had a morning of “homeschooling” and each boy had some “mommy time”. For my middle son’s mommy time (he is my game inventor, remember?) we decided to play “Binocular I Spy”.
He and I each got a pair of binoculars and then we took turns saying, “I spy with my little eye something _____” and the other person would use binoculars to find what that person “spied”. It was fun to go around the house and see things with a new perspective.
I spy a cute little 2 yr old that wanted to join in the fun!
6. Jesus Storybook Bible
I have heard sooooo many wonderful things about this Bible. However, we have almost 15 different children’s Bibles and so I just felt silly buying one more. But I decided that my middle son’s birthday would be a good occasion to buy this Bible. He thinks it’s great. We’ve read some of it today and I’m definitely a big fan. 
Sometimes I think we teach children the Bible stories in such a random order that children do not see the overall picture of God’s plan. The Jesus Storybook Bible draws the Bible into one BIG story that God is telling. It’s refreshing and reveals God’s true intent to love us and redeem us.
These were some of my favorites this week. What were some of yours?
Hey gal,
Loved your favs this week. Just have to tell you my secret ingredient for my taco soup. A package of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix. I think it revs up the yum factor. Try it.
Oh great idea!! It would give it a creamy, sour cream like taste huh? Would u cut out one pkg of taco seasoning if u add the ranch? Thanks Leslie! Love having u in my life!